Some videos for the Grandmas

They're not doing anything particularly interesting in these videos... but I know of a few people who will watch them adoringly over and over and over :-) The first is of Cullen walking, he's really trying this week and doing really well! He's much more fearless than Jack and just sort of goes for it, he'll try again and again without getting frustrated. The second video is of both boys playing with the newspaper yesterday morning.

The Week

My mother-in-law Sari was here last week and we had such a good time with her! I especially enjoyed learning to sew on my new machine! Sari helped me do a lot of research and I ended up getting a Brother machine for a good price on Amazon. So far I love it! It's simple enough for even me to use and I don't think I'll ever need to trade up because it can do so much. Sari said the real test would be if it could sew through a few layers of denim without too much trouble so we tried hemming a pair of Brandon's jeans that were getting frayed on the ends and it worked like a charm! We took several trips to Joann's while she was here and bought lots of scrap fabric for me to practice on. I successfully sewed two pieces of fabric together in a straight line and I was ecstatic! While she was here, Sari taught me all the basics of sewing as well as a few harder things like putting in cording around a pillow and sewing really thin fabrics. I had quite a bit of trouble with the cording and I will definitely be practicing that a lot more before I attempt to redecorate my living room but overall it wasn't as hard as I imagined it would be. And I had no clue that the majority of a "sewing" project is actually cutting the fabric precisely and the pressing of the fabric that needs to be done at nearly every step along the way. Who'd have thought? Anyways, I'm hooked and I can't wait to try my first real sewing project. What should it be???


Brandon was on spring break this week so he didn't have to go to class at all! Another reason why having Sari here was so great was because Brandon and I got to go on dates nearly every night! We went to dinner/dessert a couple of times, went to see a movie and got to go on a couple of walks together. And Sari was practically shooing us out of the house so she could have her grandsons all to herself ;-) I'm not sure who had more fun- us, the boys or Grandma Sari!

We went to the National Geographic museum one day to see the Terracotta Warriors exhibit. Apparently one of the first emperors of China had thousands of clay figures built and placed around his tomb to help him in the afterlife. Brandon had been wanting to see them and couldn't believe I'd never heard of them so we all went one afternoon.

Cullen entertained himself in line by repeatedly hitting Daddy on the head.

Poor Cullen didn't quite make it through the exhibit, he was out like a light.

We hadn't been to the park since November but it was finally warm enough to go last week and those boys sure enjoyed themselves! I think the park will be a daily outing this summer. Here's Cullen going down the slide. They're not afraid of it anymore, quite the opposite actually, they can't get enough of it!

Jack running around like a big boy. He looks so funny though because he walks with his elbows up for balance so he looks like he's flapping his arms.

More sliding fun

Renee, I know you'll love this picture. Cullen climbing his first rock wall! Well, he didn't actually climb it, but he tried!

And our old favorite, the swings. They still love it and still fit into the same swing together. Perfect!

Now the weekend's over, Brandon's spring break is over and we'll be back to regular life this week. I've so enjoyed having my husband around more, too bad it can't last! But next week I'm going to California for my sister's baby shower and I'm pumped for it!! Oh and we sure could use some California sun too, do you see how white my kids are? They're actually glowing in most of these pictures!!! (I know it's partly the exposure on my camera and the fact that it's overcast weather and that I don't take the time to properly edit my photos, but really, we're all as pale as vampires.) Bring on the sunshine!!

Still Climbing Everything In Sight...

My sewing machine came last week and the box is their new favorite toy at the moment. They have pushed it all around the entire house and climbed on it to get new places and views. Jack is using it to look out the window here:

And they're using it to watch Grandma making dinner here:

And Jack found out he could climb into this new perch yesterday and they had quite the brawl last night when both of them decided they wanted in at the exact same time. There was screaming, pushing, kicking, and even real tears. Who knew that a seat on a bookshelf could incite such passion and anger?

And no, this picture is not of Jack sitting in the shelf after he won the battle for it- I'm not that bad of a mother ;-) I broke up the fight and had them take turns sitting in there while I distracted the other one.

Cullen "Talking"

As I was posting this, he heard the video playing and came over and started talking back to the baby on the screen... that kid is too funny!

My Little Climbers

The past couple of weeks, the boys have taken an interest in climbing and they now climb anything and everything! I have been surprised several times at the places I've found them after looking away for just a moment or two. They have figured out that they can climb on boxes or their little table and chairs set to get where they want, so they have begun pushing these things around the room and finding new things to climb on. So clever, yet so mischievous. Here are a few places I've found them climbing just this week:

They overturned and then pushed a half-full cat litter box into the bathroom so they could reach their toothbrushes on the counter.

Cullen pushed his chair and table in front of the entertainment center and used them as steps to get to the TV. He pulled out a cord and then began turning the tv off and on.

I was doing the dishes and heard what sounded like glass clinking together. I am very careful not to leave glass anywhere they can reach so I thought I was crazy at first. But I immediately looked over and saw Jack standing on top of a file folder box reaching for the candles. We moved that into the bedroom right away.

And this next story tops them all. I was sitting on the couch reading and the boys were playing on the living room floor around me. All of a sudden I saw something out of the corner of my eye and glanced over my shoulder. There was Jack peering over the back of the couch! He was standing on his little chair and busted out laughing when I cried "Jack! What are you doing up there?" He thought he was so funny sneaking up on Mommy reading! We've had to confiscate the chairs and hide those in our bedroom too until they're old enough to learn not to stand on them.

So thanks GG Whit, your Christmas gift has inspired Jackson and Cullen to be the cutest little daredevils! They think they're so cool with all their climbing and it's their favorite toy... but they'll just have to wait until they can play with it safely ;-)

All About Cullen

Since I have so many posts that are somewhat Jack-centered (due to the fact that he usually learns new skills first), I want to dedicate a special post to my sweet boy Cullen. He is such a good baby, always so happy and smiley, and I love him so very much!

He nearly always has a big goofy smile on his face, he loves to share with Mommy and Daddy, he doesn't have a temper like his older brother, he gets genuinely sad when you tell him no or speak sternly to him, he is easily distracted and goes wherever the wind blows him, he's always on the go and doesn't like to sit still for even a minute, he never has time to sit and cuddle with Mommy unless he's not feeling well but he comes over for quick hugs and kisses all throughout the day, he laughs at the silliest things and at himself often, when he's sad his eyes get really big and he just looks so pitiful that you can't help but scoop him up, the only time he really gets grumpy is when he's exhausted or sick, he LOVES to eat and isn't picky at all, he acts very impulsively and spontaneously, he physically shows his excitement by jumping up and down or doing his famous "Happy Feet" kicks, he concentrates really hard on whatever he's doing but seems to completely forget about it once he moves on to something else, he loves to put his fingers into other people's mouths, he loves to chase the cats and gets a huge grin on his face whenever he manages to sneak up on them, he "waves" by holding out his palm to people and scrunching his face up like some weird salute or something, he's not as talkative as Jack but he does babble a lot more lately, he does lots of high-pitched chirps and low grunts, he is OBSESSED with cell phones and remote controls, but he also really loves to chuck things across the room and thus isn't allowed to have Mommy's cell phone anymore, he gets shy often and when he does he whips his head around back and forth really quickly as if he's thinking "Should I look at them? No, I better not. Well, maybe I want to after all," he can often be seen chewing on his pointer finger while he looks around, and he spontaneously claps for no reason at all.

I could go on and on about how sweet and lovely Cullen is. He lights up my day and always makes me laugh with the goofy things he does. What a lovable little boy I have!

Here are a couple of videos of him from last week. (For those of you who noticed that my kids seem to always be pants-less in the apartment, you're right. There's no real reason for it, though, they just seem to end up that way by the end of the day. It's always warm enough in here that they don't have to wear pants, they sometimes trip them up while they're practicing walking, they don't leave the house much, and to be honest, I get sick of wrestling them back into their pants after countless diaper changes so sometimes I just leave them off :-) ) Anyways, Cullen isn't wearing pants in either of these since they were taken the same day as that last video of Jack walking. But look at those chubby little thunder thighs, don't you just want to squeeze them so tight?!?! Lucky me, I get to every day ;-)

This first video is of Cullen walking back and forth... and back and forth with his little walker. He used to get sooo frustrated whenever he ran into a wall but a couple of weeks ago it clicked for him that if he walks around to the other side of the walker he can get going again. What a smart boy! He does this all day long, even if he only goes a couple of feet each time.



This second video shows one of the rare instances when Jack lets him have the big bouncy ball. Jack is getting to be quite the bully and often steals things from Cullen. But Cullen's so sweet, he usually just looks around and grabs for something else to play with. Lately, Jack's been hogging the ball constantly but Cullen gets to use it every once in a while. I think I'll go out and buy another one this week so that Cullen gets a turn to play with one! He obviously loves it!

The Weekend

I'm not even sure what round we're in now, but we are still sick somehow. I thought Cullen was recovering from a quick 24 hour stomach flu that started on Wednesday because he was fine on Friday and Saturday. He was happy, playing and not acting sick at all. Then suddenly, during his nap yesterday he barfed up everything he had eaten for breakfast and lunch. He set a new record for the amount of vomit that could come out of a baby so small. And this morning he had another case of explosive diarrhea. So many baths, so much laundry... when will it end?

I also got a touch of the stomach flu over the weekend but I must have a really strong stomach because I never really got sick, just a lot of nausea. And just to be on the safe side, we're all still on the BRAT diet. It has to be almost over, right? I mean, your kids can't be sick for 8 weeks straight, right?

We had a really low key week again, the boys only left the house a couple of times and I just did some grocery shopping. We did go to Ikea on Saturday afternoon to pick up some pots and candles and things, that was the highlight of the week for us. Everytime I go to Ikea, I remember just how much I love it there! I haven't been in over a year and I forgot how great their prices are! Our entire house is furnished almost exclusively with Ikea furniture bought off Craigslist. Someday, I would like to have a grown up home with real furniture, but for now I'm perfectly happy with my second-hand Ikea stuff :-) Besides, between our two kids and two cats, everything is scratched up and stained anyways!

My mother in law is coming to visit on Friday and she's been helping me to pick out a sewing machine. I'm going to buy one tomorrow and I'm SO excited to learn to sew. My MIL is a great seamstress and she makes beautiful blankets and curtains and all sorts of other projects. She was a tremendous help for our wedding too because she sewed all of the pink tableclothes we used. I have these grand Project-Runway-induced visions of creating high fashion with my little machine as soon as I get started. I know that's far from realistic because I remember from the one time that I attempted to sew anything that I had trouble even keeping it in a straight line, but I'm very excited just the same. My goal is to practice a lot and, sometime this year, make new curtains and pillows for my living room. I'm getting really tired of the old burnt oranges and reds we have now and I want to go for a more crisp blue/green vibe. I can't wait to get started! Check back next week though because I'll probably be cursing and vowing never to sew again...