To Eat or Not?

Definitely To Eat. Isaac ate his first real deal food. This was the first. Saturday Night. Rice. He ate all I fixed. Not sure how much it was.....just "wingin' it".

This was the second. Monday. Prunes. Thought it might "help" him a little. I think he liked them because he ate half the container. We'll see if that was too much tomorrow. I know....bibs...use bibs. Is that what you are thinking? The feedings have been spurt of the moment and I haven't brought the bibs downstairs yet. Soon. Very soon. Who knows what and when he will get more food????

These were just cute pictures from Father's Day. (We spent the day at my parents and then out to eat with the fam: Grandaddy, Judy, and her kids.)

Round em up for diaper changing. I missed the shot, but at one point, they both were looking at me with their feet up in the air while holding their toes. It made me smile big.

One of my friends invited us to an open gym for kids. We've been a few Fridays in a row. Olivia has really had a good time there: tampolines, foam blocks, slide, bouncy floor, etc. OK....and Dad had a really fun time too when he went!

Chronicles Of A Vibrating 2 Year Old

Several days ago Olivia and I (Dadda) are making a breakfast smoothie. She's standing on the counter next to the blender and dropping in the fruit, etc. I turn the blender on and the mixing begins.... Olivia looks at me with a smile, hands on her belly and says, "It's vibrating me Dadda." In total amazement of her ability to insert the word vibrate correctly in conversation (and much less say the word clearly), I respond with some laughter, "Yes it is vibrating you."

Vibrate - Take 2 -

So we're all at the mall and I've got Olivia in the stroller and Tami is somewhere else with Isaac. I'm looking for a new pair of shoes and Tami is trying to call me. Olivia is laying back in the car seat and suddenly sits up and in the most curious voice says, "Dadda, what's that vibrating me?" I look at her just as curious trying to figure out what in the world she was talking about. I soon realized my phone wasn't in my pocket, but in the cup holder of the stroller set on 'vibrate only'.

Sitting here writing this post I realized that she learned the word from those small stationary infant seats that vibrate. She turns it on and off for Isaac and her dolls frequently. It's amazing when and how they pick things up!!!

Stomping Mad

Here's the background to the video. Olivia, Tami, and I are all in the living room and Olivia is drinking a glass of milk. She tries to have us take her drink all the time when she's done instead of putting it down somewhere appropriate on her own. Tami tells her to take it to the kitchen and put it on he table. Not the response Olivia was looking for. So she heads off to the kitchen stomping and cry-whining, but stops every few feet to show her disapproval. The video catches only the tail end of it, but you'll get the idea....I (Justin) didn't do a very good job of being serious through the whole thing, but after watching, you can see why.....oh, and Tami is on the other end of the camera with a big 'ol smile on her face not making a peep....she's not innocent either! :) Simply hilarious!!! Wish we were able to capture the whole thing. I'll be grinning at this one for years. Enjoy!

Popsicle

Olivia has been practicing eating popsicles this summer. This one is a Breyers real fruit juice one...bursting with flavor. I think you can tell just how much flavor is in them from the video. Oh, and Luci gets to eat the sticks when we are done.

The Big Roll

Isaac rolled over for the first time! Three times!! (I missed the first one, just heard his head go "bonk". Got the 3rd one on video.) This is not the picture of The Big Roll however. This is what happens when Nana and Gramp send Olivia stickers in the mail. He He.

'Two' Cute!

I took this shot today of Isaac and Tami and had to share. He's getting pretty big. I fed him a bottle after we got inside and he downed 8 ounces of milk. He sure eats more and weighs more than Olivia did. Down for the count.

The New(er) Backyard

Well, here's what I've done in the back yard over the past couple months. I've got some more plans in mind, so we'll call this the end of phase one. (I think I just heard Tami shout, 'Hallelujah!' - j/k.)

In the garden, I've got carrots, sweet banana peppers, green peppers, lettuce, tomato, spaghetti squash, broccoli, cabbage, green beans, and onions......oh, and weeds. Didn't plant those. Ugh! To any other gardeners out there, if you haven't tried putting (3) layers of newspaper down and then mulching over the top, I'm sold on it...made a path down the middle of the garden as a walkway and haven't pulled one weed out of it yet. I did feel pretty silly putting newspaper down in my garden at first, but the results have been amazing. From what I hear, newspaper adds some nutrients to the soil too. Can't beat that. Gotta give a quick shout out to Tami and her dad for helping pull weeds.....couldn't tell the onions and carrots from the weeds a few days ago. I haven't found a passion for weed pulling yet.

I put up the fence and put in the stone and mulch. It was just grass/bare spots before. It has been nice knowing the dog is safe in the back yard. Check out the post dated "April 12: Yard Work - Take 1" to see some before/during pictures. Quite a nice change.

Around the deck was a lot of bare spots and on the side where all the plants are, there was just dirt and weeds. It has been very nice looking at the flowers.

And It Even Works!!!

My room gets pretty hot in the evenings so Daddy crawled up in the attic and installed a fan to replace the light fixture for me. My brother Isaac will get his soon, but he's got one that will do for another week or two.

Happy Birthday Olivia!

She's two! Olivia has had a party month! Nana and Gramp came to visit and she got a cool rocking chair. Then we celebrated again with the Hickox side the next weekend. Then on Monday May 11 ("real bday") she got to celebrate again with Mommy, Daddy, and Isaac. And we had some more cake today and sang Happy Birthday again! The picture story follows:

Yeah! I'm TWO! (and the bunny sings "If You're Happy and You Know It")

I made her a Cat Cake. Over this past year, she's wanted to draw "meow"s everytime she had something in her hands to draw with. Both Justin and I have drawn a TON of cats as well.

The final product.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Two candles. Two blows.

This was the messiest she got.

There was a clown at the party! She really did like it, you just can't tell.

She got lots of fun presents like: a kite, golf set, horse shoes, clothes, bears, bottles for her babies, play food...

And she played with her presents.

Monday May 11 Morning. She loves Cheerios.

Mom, Dad, Isaac, and Olivia went to the Aquarium in Gatlinburg.

These were one of her favorites. They were moving around/fighting/playing king of the rock. We laughed.

There was a cool walk through shark tunnel.

This was actually her on the way TO the aquarium. She was one tired pup!

AND.....DRUM ROLL..... She got rid of the crib! It's now in Isaac's room! And Isaac is out of our room! Yippy!

She likes the bed...and the fact that she can get out anytime she wants....ex: right after she's tucked in for the night!

And side note: Uncle Will, Aunt Tara, and Jackson are now living in Germany. Boo. We'll miss you!

Isaac is getting BIG!

Turning the corner at age 2: Walking bare foot in the grass.

She got a "life suit" for the boat rides in the pond and lake.

I can't believe she's already two. She has been such a huge blessing to our family. We are treasuring every moment we have with her. I totally get why Jesus said "let the little children come to me". She is so precious, trusting, full of life, and loving. Having kids helps to understand how God sees us and what we need to be like towards Him as well. And all this applies to Isaac too. Two treasures. Thank you God!

3-0 and more

So I finally caught up with Justin. I'm 30. Don't really feel any different....although it's been easier to remember how old I am than when I was 26-29.

Justin said the #1 was because I am his #1 wife. (Ok, it was from Olivia's birthday...and it has to last until Isaac turns one.)

We all went to Calhoun's on the River in downtown Knoxville. I had steak.

Justin's parents drove down for the weekend to celebrate. Thank you!

Other pictures that have nothing to do with me turning 30.

His face is turning into a little man. I love him.

We made huge bubbles one day. Olivia and Luci loved them.

His first time holding on to his rattle for more than a couple seconds. What a pro!

I see some similarities.

I'm clean!

I see some more similarities.

We always read 2 books before bed. She gets to pick.