Daddy's Day

Not only is he a wonderful man I'm lucky to have snagged in high school (especially since he had that totally awesome spiked hair, man), but Jeff is also an amazing father. Sure, he teaches the boys "Borat" expressions (only the clean ones, don't worry), and yea, sometimes he might whine a little if I ask him to change a diaper. But the time he spends with his boys, and the love he shows them, more than make up for those moments.

Case in point. Every night, Jeff reads books to the boys before bedtime. Recently, he began reading stories from the Children's Bible (known to the boys as "The Jesus Book"). The other night, I was on the couch upstairs nursing Will during the boys' bedtime reading. Through the doorway, I noticed Jeff, Jacob, and Alex walking out of the bedroom and into the hallway. Curious over the disruption in the bedtime routine, I strained to listen. And I realized Jeff was showing them the Ten Commandments hanging on our wall. I watched from a distance as both boys listened intently while Jeff explained what the Commandments mean, and related it back to the story in "The Jesus Book" they had just read. He lifted each boy up and held them while they got a closer look.

And I thought to myself, Wow. What a dad. How lucky are these boys to have such a spiritual dad who takes time to explain God, Jesus, religion, and makes it a goal to finish reading the Children's Bible with his sons. And how lucky am I to be married to a man who knows how important that is and makes the time to actually do something about it.

But if you know Jeff, you know he's not always so serious. Quite the contrary. And I'm not only talking about all of his hilarious jokes (to be fair, a lot of them are actually funny). I mean that he's the kind of dad who doesn't hesitate to act goofy for a laugh, wrestle, play every villain imaginable while Spiderman & Wolverine fight him, and act as a makeshift jungle gym. When he makes sandwiches for the boys, he asks them what shapes he should cut them into, just to make them happy. He plays ball with them, helps them learn to pedal their bikes, and later, to ride with no training wheels. He tickles, hugs, kisses, relaxes with his kids in their inflatable pool & plays with them in the big pool. His shoulders are ones to cry on, laugh on, climb up, ride on, and sleep on. He's a perfect combination of practical & playful, serious & silly, and religious & rowdy. And we all love him for it.











Happy Father's Day, Jeff. I appreciate everything you do for us. The boys and I (and Hailey) love you very much.


It's also a day to celebrate the other wonderful daddies in our lives. Happy Father's Day to Uncle Matt and Uncle Scott.

And Happy Father's Day to Pop


and Granddad.



We love you all!

Room with a View

Yesterday afternoon, while Will was napping, the big boys also seemed in need of a little downtime. Both decided they'd like to watch TV, but naturally, neither wanted to watch the same show. That would be too easy. Jacob voted for the Looney Tunes DVD we checked out from the library (love Looney Tunes- he's definitely my kid), while Alex chose Curious George (love George- also my kid). So I did what any mom trying to enjoy temporary peace and quiet would do; I found a quick compromise and avoided conflict. Jacob watched his movie upstairs, and Alex came downstairs with me to watch George in the family room.
With all 3 boys occupied, I actually spent my time doing housework (shocking, yes, but extremely necessary considering you could no longer see our kitchen counters). As I was loading the dishwasher, I heard a sound I could not quite identify coming from the family room.

Alex has always been my little climber. A few examples come immediately to mind:




But I still didn't expect to encounter what I did when walking in the room to check on him.
It seems the view of the TV from the couch just wasn't up to par this particular afternoon. So Alex took matters into his own hands.


Me: "Alex? What are you doing?"
Alex: "Watchin' tee tee!"
Of course you are.

Looks safe, huh? I made him get down, but I do give him points for creativity. And for giving new meaning to the term highchair.

Will vs. the Elephant

Meet Will's Zoo Pals: Lion, Elephant, and Zebra.


These Zoo Pals that dangle from the mobile on his bouncy seat used to be nothing more than obstructions of his favorite window view. He alternated between being agitated with them or completely ignoring them.
But now that he is 6 weeks old, he is becoming more aware of his surroundings, and the people interacting with him.

He gazes and coos at us...


He smiles when we talk to him, and sometimes, smiles out of nowhere. (And yes, occasionally his smiles still precede a burp or poot.) Baby smiles are one of the most wonderful things in life, don't you think? The smiles are so sweet and heartwarming, they often bring tears to my eyes. Or make me laugh. And always make me happy.



But don't be fooled...Will isn't always smiley. In addition to a temper when it's time to eat (and when he's ready, he's ready NOW!!!!), he also has a serious side. And boy, can he ever seriously stare down those Zoo Pals.


He is especially intrigued by the elephant. Perhaps it's because Elephant is directly in his line of vision. Or maybe he's just never seen an elephant with polka dotted ears.


"I can smile. I can adorably coo. And I can lift my head up and look around. Let's see what I can make happen with these Zoo Pals that are always staring at me."

Even at his young age, Will knows the importance of watching and learning about your opponent before making a move. Focus is critical.


"Hey, Zebra. Take that condescending smile elsewhere or you're next."


Practice your moves.



"Seriously, Zebra. Take pointers from Lion and mind your business. This is between me and Elephant. You know I can easily reach you with my left hand and knock you into oblivion, right? Your rattling noise doesn't scare me."


Ignore all distractions. Loud brothers and red zebras included.


Will decides it's time to test whether he can check another milestone off the list. Can he concentrate enough to move his hand and knock the heck out of Elephant?
Time to make a move and put his hand eye coordination to the test...

"Gotcha!"

Little Piggies

I just can't resist playing with stinky little boy feet. Sometimes, I jump right in and start tickling with no warning. And sometimes, like a few days ago, I drag out the inevitable tickle torture with a game of Little Piggies.

Jacob is tied with me for Most Ticklish Person EVER. He begins laughing before I even touch his toes. And when actual physical contact is made with his feet, he's in hysterics.
Alex can hold his own, though. He watches me and grins as I lead up to the end of the game, but doesn't laugh until I've reached the ticklish pinky toe.

After countless games of Little Piggies the other afternoon, I finally called it quits. No worries- Alex decided he'd continue on his own. The only problem was, he needed help remembering the rhyme.

"What dis little piggy do?

Oh. Dis little piggy went to mark." (Actually, the market.)

"What dis little piggy do?

Oh. Dis little piggy stay home."

"What dis little piggy do? Dis little piggy had row beef." (That's roast beef.)


"What dis little piggy do?

Dis little piggy had none."


"And dis little piggy say...

'Weeee Weeee' all a-way home!"


Alex proved that you just don't laugh when you tickle yourself. But you can make the people watching you laugh. And he did. So naturally, we were treated to several renditions of Dis Little Piggy.

With the way these boys eat (including Will, who is a nursing champion), little piggies has more than one meaning in this house.

My handsome little piggies...




...and their cute little piggies.

Can I have S'more of that?

The boys have this very cool nightlight in their room, courtesy of Nan & Pop. It's a stuffed turtle with a plastic shell that has hundreds of tiny star shaped holes cut out of it, and one crescent moon. When you turn it on, the shapes project onto the ceiling & walls, surrounding the room in your choice of either blue, green, or orange stars and a moon.
Before Jacob became a pro at falling asleep by himself, and before the boys began sharing a room, Jeff and I would take turns lying down with him before he slept. As we would lie in his bed together with the turtle nightlight on, Jacob and I liked to pretend we were camping outside under the night sky. Before it was time to sleep in our imaginary tent, we roasted marshmallows on sticks over our roaring campfire. And I taught Jacob what a S'more is, and how they got their name (who wouldn't want "some more" graham cracker topped with melted chocolate and marshmallow?). He was fascinated.
During this time, I was pregnant with Will. And due to the almost nightly campouts with Jacob, I began to develop an intense craving for S'mores. The real ones- well, not the fire roasted ones. Nuked in a microwave was sufficient for me.
One afternoon, I realized I happened to have all of the ingredients for my food craving. A quick zap in the microwave, and a daily (or sometimes twice daily- oh, alright, occasionally three times daily) obsession with S'mores was born.

As I was attacking a S'more with my mouth one day, Jacob waltzed into the kitchen. His eyes lit up.

"Is that a S'more??!"

Of course I had to make him one.

And so the food object of our campfire fantasy came to life.

A quick poke to make sure it was real.


And a sniff to be sure it smelled edible. Sometimes Jacob is a little too cautious when it comes to trying new foods.


And finally, the first bite to see what this S'mores fuss is all about.


Darn, you just might have to lick that chocolate right off your fingers.


His eyes meet mine as he's chewing...

Do you like it? I'm going to interpret that grin as a big ol' YES.



And even though he loved it, he couldn't finish an entire S'more (clearly an amateur). So there sat a half eaten S'more on a plate. And who should walk by and notice?

There was no smelling or poking of the S'more before the first bite was taken. Alex did not hesitate before digging in.


The S'more was begging to be pried apart, just like any sandwich Alex eats.


Let's eat these crackers one at a time and really savor them...



It's a little messy, huh? Sorry about that. Oh, you don't mind?


It seems I've created two new S'mores lovers!



And a lesson has been learned: always have S'mores ingredients in the house!