Halloween 2010

Aaron was RED GREEN

Bam was Buzz
I was a Fairy (with Rockabilly attitude...we were all different kinds of fairies at work this year)

Funny pics of my wild Boys

Genius.

It's a parents job and fair right to brag about their child, correct?
If not, too bad. I love him.

I think he's a genius. At least at some things. Everywhere we go, people are always amazed at how smart and advanced he is. One lady said to him as we left the grocery store, "See you on TV next time!"
I wouldn't know any different unless I compared him to other kids his age. And some kids I've met can count to maybe 10. Some don't even know the ABC song at all. One could only put 2 to 3 words together in a sentence.
We read books to him and help him along, but as one lady said to me, "You must work with him all the time!" Not really. He just sort of picks things up on his own.

Now, I am not in any way saying he is better than any other child, or we should become "cocky" about him at all. I merely think he is going to be smarter than me any day now, and it frightens me! Also, so I can have some sort of record to remember this time.... at 27 monts old.

Here's kindof a rundown of what he can do. (probably more than I even know too.)
*Sings the ABC song many times a day.
*Knows all the letters in order, or out of order.
*Recognizes any number or letter upside down, sideways, or even backwards (when they are on the other side of a window for example.)
*Knows all the sounds the letters make.
*Knows what letter everyone's name starts with (people he knows)
*Puts letters together to make 3 letter words.
*Recognizes many words, and says them. "stop" "big" "Dad" etc.
*Counts to 100 in order, and can keep going if he feels like it. (mostly when he is on the swing at the park!)
*Recognizes every number no matter where it is. (grocery store line, jerseys, license plates.)
*Puts two numbers together and switches them. ("this is 46... and 64!")
*Flips them upside down...like 6 is a 9, and also W is an M.
***breath***
*Knows all colors
*Knows all shapes (except the weird ones that we havent told him. Trapazoid...)
*Knows animals
*Any CD I put on, he knows what songs goes with what number. Creepy.
("Mommy! Number 9! Ants Go Marching! Number 10! Muffin Man!")
He knows which song is coming next, sings along with the song, tells me when to skip certain songs. He can do this with at least 10 CD's. I can't even do that.
*Puts many words together.
*His mind is so creative. He sees objects in other things. Like a chunk of mishapen plastic is a Kitty, and a tree branch is a number.
***my brain hurts. Im sure there are other things that shock me every day. But that is enough to think about for now. Question: What am I supposed to do when he has a plan to take over the world with Numbers and Letters!?

Just joking of course. Little smartie pants. I just adore him.

Pretty Much THE cutest boy I've ever seen.

For your entertainment...

umm...yeah.

So yeah I missed August. Life is crazy, my to do list grows instead of shrinks, and I am trying to enjoy the important things in life more than things that wont even matter in 10 years, or later this week even. But here I am finally. I decided a few things would be fun to share.
Oh, by the way, Potty Training is out the window...
He wants nothing to do with it in the least. I am actually fine with that! I would much rather change a billion diapers then fight him with it. Way too exhasting.

Potty Training Begins!!

Here we go!!
I have a 4 day weekend this week, so I decided we've put it off long enough. Here is Bam in his new Elmo underwear! He thinks it's a blast! This morning we dropped the poo poo from his diaper into the big potty and flushed it. Then I said that we were going to try underwear and gave him his very own little potty chair.
So far he wont even sit on it. He fights me when I try to make him sit. He wont even sit on top of it when it's closed!
So while Im sitting here doing this blog, we had our first accident!!! All over the couch! I knew because my pants started getting wet. No...I didnt have the accident. I am fully trained. But it leaked onto me while he sat next to me. So I ran him to the potty chair, and he still didnt want to sit down. But he was surprised how wet the couch was and his undies.
So I tell him we are going to go try again in 10 mintues. (figure I'll start there!)
He has a sticker chart for every time he goes potty on the potty chair. and if he fills the whole thing up, he gets a new toy!
So the adventure begins. We'll see.

Things I Love!

No it's not Valentine's Day. But I want to share things that I love so much about life. It helps me realize how much I have. and that "Love is a Gift"!



* Banick running to me with a huge grin and laugh ("Mommys here!") when I pick him up from Sunday school class
* Walking through my house and remembering that it's mine
* Banick's funny things he says. His view of the world is so darling and it is so great to watch him discover it.
* Date Night with Aaron. Makes me remember how great our love and conversations are.
* A sparkling clean anything.
* Vacation of any kind, but especially seeing somewhere new. Drives out of town, too.
* Good friends who are easy to talk to and fun to be around
* Singing songs of praise and worship to my Savior.
* Aaron coming home from work and chasing Banick around the house and doing somersalts.
* Banick singing any song. Especially when he meows to the words!!
(no wait, that is Aaron...I guess it's both of them!)
* A day where, at the end, I have accomplished at least something worthwhile
* When I slow down and enjoy the moment I am in with my son and / or husband
* Banick's absolutely contagious grin.
* Preparing a meal that impresses Aaron. or that Banick actually eats.
* Finishing a home-made craft project of any kind (a rarity), or a piece of art
* Decorating the house
* Creating a unique type cake for anyone. But mostly people I know and love.
* Having family around and playing games or just talking and laughing
* Laughing! A good, uncontrollable laughing session.(usually when Im exhausted)
* When the creation around me suddenly causes me to stand in awe of our Lord.
The moon or a sunset never fails to do this.
* Remembering the "real life" romance I still have after almost 10 years, and how blessed I am to live in it everyday.


I know I of course didnt hit everything I love, but these are a few I can think of right now. Life is beautiful, people. Not easy, not perfect, not without trials, and lessons to be learned. But so so beautiful. Look around. Enjoy it.

Thank the Lord for Coolness.

Our cooler in our new house doesnt work. It was quite old, and "Maguivered". Meaning: parts of it were held together with old socks, and the bottom had tar put all in it.
Long story short- our house has been 90 degrees for two weeks. The cooler guys couldn't come put a new one in for two weeks because of how busy they were in the season. So we slept downstairs a couple nights, we slept at my parents house a couple nights, and we bought someone's old used window cooler to see if that would help. We have wonderful friends, and our friend Bryan came over with his brother to help Aaron build this box for our window. Tacky? much. Especially since it's on the front of our house. But it did help for those very hot evenings. Thanks Bryan!


But finally!! The day has arrived and the cooler guys came! Here lies the remains of the dead....


They fixed us up with a brand spankin new one! and oh is it lovely...
Our house is a comfy 70 degrees, and it even uses a thermostat so it turns on when it thinks it should. (yes it "thinks".That is how smart it is.)
Needless to say, we are quite thankful for the cool air.

That's our Bam! (Bam Bam)

Yogurt Vampires dont need no stinking spoons!