Happiness Is...Jesse

Mama, Where Can We Get A Baby?

2012-01-23T10:06:00.001-05:00

Let me preface this conversation (with my son), by saying that I am not expecting at this moment. My wonderful brother and sister-in-law will be welcoming a baby girl in June. That is why there has been a lot of 'baby talk' around our house. We've been discussing a trip to PA in the summertime to see Cousin Micah and the new baby. Jesse's apparently been thinking this through and we had the following convo in Target, on Saturday.

We were in the baby section buying his nighttime Pull-Ups when out of the blue...

BooBoy: Mama, I want a baby.

Me: Well, we can't get one right now.

BB: Why not? Where can we go to get a baby?

Me: Um.... (inner debate on whether I should give him the "when two people love each other" speech or if that will lead to more questions).

BB: Mama, let's go get a baby.

Me: Well, honey, we can't get a baby right now. God will give us a baby when he wants to give us one.

BB: I want God to give us a baby right now!

Me: (trying to divert) Well, why don't you pray about that, sweetie?

BB: (lays head down on the cart rail right there in the middle of Target) God? I want a baby. Can you give us one, please? I love you. Goodbye. Amen.

Me: [sigh.....]

My precocious child is so completely sweet, funny and overwhelming.

Hooty Hat

2012-01-10T21:39:00.001-05:00

So, it's been a very mild winter and Jesse hasnt had a lot of opportunities to wear his warm weather gear. Then we had a few days of frigid cold last week. It was then that I discovered that little boy's head had expanded and his winter toboggan (hat) no longer fit his noggin.

Thus began the quest to find a hat that met my qualifications (ears covered) & the wishlist of the BooBoy. Funnily, we happened upon the perfect one in Bed, Bath & Beyond. A hooty hat. A googly eyed owl with two braided lengths hanging down that make great things to chew on, knot and otherwise play with while mommy is driving.

If You're A Pilgrim And You Know It...

2011-11-18T14:53:00.000-05:00

It's been awhile. I know. But look at the cuteness that I'm bestowing upon you now. He's the cutest little pilgrim on the face of the earth. These are kids from the 3 & 4 yr old rooms at his preschool dresses as pilgrims & indians for their Thanksgiving music program.

Still, I'm gonna have to work on his showmanship. He was too starstruck about the audience and being on a strange stage, that all he did was bob a bit and mouth some words. The cuteness factor weighs heavily in his favor, though. Happy Thanksgiving!

Water Boy

2011-07-26T09:44:00.000-04:00

Gosh, it's been forever since I blogged. In the last month, we've moved, work has been super busy and I've been planning our road trip to PA (to visit my folks) at the end of August.

I pretty much have been working my tail off during the day. It's the Worship Ministry's "summer break" & I have slightly less to do than normal, so I've been tackling a huge project that's been bugging me for years. Our library! The orchestrations have been a mess and we've been running out of space the last couple of months. So, I've been spending my days verifying instrument charts against orchestration scores, condensing the boxes that they are stored in and then discarding any extraneous copies that have accumulated over the years. Definitely makes me think I need glasses, though. The print on these suckers is TINY.

In the evenings, we usually swim for an hour or so. Jesse is doing so well! We got him this Speedo vest to wear that helps keep him buoyant, but doesn't hinder his swimming. Oh my goodness, this little boy LOVES to swim! It's so awesome to watch him grin as he comes up from under the water and say, "again!". He's conquering his fear of laying on his back to float, too. He'll do it (with us holding him), get scared and sit up, but then want to do it again right away.

Then we go home and while I'm cooking dinner, he's playing with his (and his daddy's old) Hot Wheels cars & watching Nick Jr. Can I just say how much I love, love, love Nick Jr.? He's especially fond of Ni-Hao Kailan, Olivia, The WonderPets and The Fresh Beat Band. No, we don't watch them all at once, but at some point over the week, he sees each of those shows and loves them all. In fact, he had me singing the WonderPets song at Target the other day. Too funny.

The best part of my day, though, is snuggling and tucking in, as we talk over the day. Usually, we fit in a little tickle-fest, too, b/c Jesse LOVES to be tickled. Oh, how we laugh!! Then, he plays with his little LeapFrog computer until he's ready to fall asleep.

Bedtime Stories

2011-06-30T14:35:00.004-04:00

Jesse LOVES storytime at night. He has several favorites that we have to read from each evening. Among those titles, it's Llama Llama Red Pajamas, Llama Llama Mad At Mama, But No Elephants, Henry's Happy Birthday and Ten Hungry Monsters.

Jesse obviously can't read yet, but he's really learning to memorize. In fact, he can usually say each of these five books along with me (and others, too), so last night I tried to capture the cuteness of it.

Well, when the camera came out it was, "no, mama, YOU read it!" I ended up just videotaping the book as I turned the pages and read. He helped a bit, but it's not as good as he usually does. Still the cuteness factor wins out.

Here is an excerpt from "Ten Hungry Monsters":

So I bring out
1 Jug of Apple Juice,
2 Loaves of bread
3 bowls of spaghetti that they dump upon my head
4 purple eggplants
5 pickled pears
6 orange pumpkins they climb up and down like stairs.
7 roasted turkeys
8 pizza pies
9 watermelons that they wish were twice the size
10 jars of peanut butter, but not a speck of jam (cause I want every monster mouth shut tighter than a clam!).

At The Overlook

2011-06-15T15:28:00.002-04:00

Jesse's very favorite thing to do with daddy is go to the airport overlook. It was such a nice evening. The heat had broken and it was just a bit breezy. A nice night for a drive. We had Original Pancake House for dinner (YUM!) and headed over to the airport.

We usually go on Sunday afternoons, where it is 'hit or miss' if there'll be any planes on the runway. That Friday, we parked just as there was a very long line forming in front of us. Some huge planes, too. Jesse was ecstatic and he and his daddy huddled together to stare at the planes. I heard all kinds of words coming from that boy, like, "full throttle" & "liftoff".

Pretty soon, his excitement was more than he could contain and he just HAD to do a "happy dance".

The Hose & The PreSchooler: A Love Affair

2011-05-31T10:30:00.005-04:00

We've been keeping busy lately. Hubby's on the road most of the month, so BooBoy and I entertain ourselves by watching Dora The Explorer and playing with his truck /car/Lego collections. On the weekday evenings, we usually don't have much time between dinner and bedtime for a lot of play, but we do read a ton of stories. He has some clear favorites that we have to read EVERY night, but I just try out different voices for all the characters to keep it new.

Also, he has this extreme obsession with the hose. I promise you, this boy would rather play with the hose than do anything else. It leads to some major hissyfits when it's time to come inside, but that's about the only thing that truly gives him a meltdown.

He's discovered a low area of the sidewalk that makes a mudpuddle when you fill it with water. BooBoy will jump in it, fish worms out of it, run through it and sit in it. Easy entertainment, that's for sure. I just sit in the shade and the only rule is "no spraying Mommy!"

Like Riding A Bike...er...Trike!

2011-03-22T16:21:00.003-04:00

Jesse recently got the hang of peddling on his tricycle. He still has to do a little push off to get started, but it's really awesome to watch my two and a half year old peddle his bike down the street. He's growing up so fast!!

Family Outing

2011-02-21T11:43:00.003-05:00

One of our favorite things to do, as a family, is to go to the airport overlook and watch planes take off and land. It was so beautiful and warm out on Saturday, we took some snacks and made an afternoon of it. Unfortunately, it was also very windy, so the planes were at the other end of the runway. We were able to see them as they flew past us, but it wasn't as exciting as usual, since we couldn't hear/see the acceleration of the engines. And, A LOT of other families had the same idea, so the place was packed.

Eventually, we decided to go for dinner and ended up at Mac's Speed Shop. A fantastic place for BBQ, if you don't mind all the motorcycles sitting out front (and the riders that go with them). After that, we searched for an ice cream place, but in the end, stopped at good 'ole Dairy Queen. Jesse snarfed down almost a whole soft serve cone himself (we were supposed to be sharing). He LOVES ice cream!

Then it was stories and bedtime. He was pooped and so were we. Tomorrow, a shot of this new hairdo. Finally got some of his length chopped off since his hair was practically in his eyes.

The Mysterious Purple Sock

2011-02-16T16:41:00.003-05:00

Jesse came home from preschool one day last month wearing someone else's sock. Not a PAIR of socks, but a lone purple sock. Needless to say, after washing it, I failed to return it to preschool. Jesse took it and has been playing with it in his room and it keeps turning up in odd places.

As you'll see in the video, he decided to wear it as a glove when we went outside to play one weekend. It was pretty nice outside, for January, and we were wearing light jackets and just exploring the yard. But, he had his sock on. He wore it the whole time. Very curious.

Enjoy!

Oh, and I've included some photos of the cat litter box that saved our lives (by smoldering for over 24 hours). Amazing!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Judy!

2011-01-21T07:37:00.002-05:00

My favorite aunt is having a birthday today and Jesse (and I) have a special birthday message for her. Love you, Judes!!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-25T19:03:00.002-05:00

Just a few video clips from today. I'll post more when I have more time. Jesse saw the presents for the first time in this clip. The bottom of the tree had been empty before this morning. I had prepped him that Santa would bring more toys today and he repeated it like a mantra, but he had no idea what to expect. Two boxes of stuff from my folks and a box from my aunt, plus the stuff from Santa (us) and my in-laws. That kid is blessed!

I included this clip because it was a seriously awesome present. Totally unexpected, but completely welcome. It's a foam mattress topper for our bed. I've been eyeing them in the store for some time now since our mattress has developed a bit of a dip in the middle and we both wake up with sore backs. Anyway, whilst shopping with the MIL a few weeks ago, I was ogling one at Costco and trying to decide where I could get the money from to buy one. Apparently, I made an impression on her because she decided to purchase it for us. You can see by my surprise and delight, that I'm ecstatic about this gift.

Jesse has a little thing about monkeys right now. One of his favorite things to do is jump, so "No More Monkeys" is near and dear to his heart. My folks got him a huge monkey. I think it's Curious George (looks very like him) and he loves it!!!

Preschool Christmas Party

2010-12-16T09:20:00.003-05:00

Jesse's class had their Christmas party yesterday and I was able to attend. Since a lot of the parents of these kids work at the church (where I work), it was a crowded room. The kids got to do a musical pass around game of presents. Sort of like musical chairs in the you got to keep the present (a book) when the music stopped. They kind of grasped it, with a little help from the parents and teachers.

Then they got to eat vanilla cupcakes with red and green frosting. Lots of little icing mustaches all over the place. Too cute!

The Turkey Trot

2010-11-17T11:46:00.004-05:00

Jesse's preschool does this cute little "parade" each year called "The Turkey Trot". The kids bring in canned goods to donate to a local charity and their teachers help them make turkey hats to wear in the parade. They march (walk) around the school and then bring their cans to a central area and lay them down in front of the grand marshall (who happens to be our church's postmaster).

I got the chance to go with him this year and even volunteered to wear a silly turkey hat, too. It was so much fun!

Our Trip to See The B-17 Bomber

2010-11-15T08:23:00.002-05:00

Raptor Center and The Airport

2010-10-22T14:09:00.005-04:00

Last Sunday we took a few hours to go visit the local Raptor Center. They take in and nurse injured raptors and then release them, if possible. The ones that can't survive in the wild are kept in very spacious exhibits, including some: bald eagles, golden eagles, crows, ravens and all kinds of hawks and owls.

After that we went to the airport overlook b/c Jesse LOVES it there!!

The Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-21T10:47:00.004-04:00

Rib-i-licious!

2010-10-20T10:31:00.003-04:00

Jesse tried pork ribs for the first time this past weekend. His Gigi was teaching him how to eat them (since I don't like Ribs). He seemed to really enjoy the whole "using your hands" thing to eat, since we've been encouraging him to use utensils for the last few months. It was sort of freestyle eating.

It Was Fair Time!

2010-10-19T10:40:00.004-04:00

Every year there are some local fairs that we like to attend. This one was just down the street from us. Kind of small the first night, but they do a parade and it gets bigger as the weekend winds on. We wanted to let Jesse ride some before everyone got there later in the weekend, so we took him the first night.

He had a good time on the jumpy house, but seemed a little confused as to why we were letting him go around inside by himself. Plus, he's getting really good at pushing the buttons on those rides that go up & down. Lots of fun!!

Belated Blogging

2010-10-18T08:34:00.005-04:00

This bug looked a little strange so we snapped a pic. We jokingly called it the "lobsterbug"

The "incubator" for the butterflies.

So, I've been a total slacker lately in the blog department, but to my credit, we've been super busy every weekend and while I've been taking some photos, I haven't been as diligent in the blogging department. Sorry!!

Anyhoo, since it's been a while and I've got a few different events that we've been to in the last month (or so), I'll start with one today and give you another every day this week. Sound good?

The Butterflies

This was actually in later September. The botanical garden nearby was having a butterfly exhibit and all the Hodgsons went. Had a fantastic lunch at Sammy's in Belmont. If you're nearby and you can go, you should!!! Anyhoo, this exhibit was a little different from the last one. Not quite as many butterflies as we expected in the actual orchid house, but we saw plenty outside in the gardens.

Enjoy!

Airplanes and a Shiny Bird Thingy

2010-09-10T08:23:00.005-04:00

Jerry & Jesse and the Shiny Bird Thingy
A steeple, uptown (gorgeous blue sky!)

Daddy & Jesse

Sitting on the anthill (!)

Last Sunday was a gorgeous, cool day. The humidity that had been holding the South in a stranglehold had finally broken. We decided to take a little family outing and go down to the airport overlook. I'm terrible with distance, so I won't even try to gauge how far away we were from the runway, but we were close enough to see them and hear the engines as they revved for takeoff.

It was pretty crowded at the overlook. Lots of little kids, parents and grandparents and all the spots with benches were taken, so Jerry took BooBoy out to sit in the grass. They lasted about five minutes before Jerry came back to the car, handed me the BooBoy and started taking off his shoes and socks. He had mistakenly sat in a fire ant hill and they were biting his ankles something fierce. He still has welts a week later.

Anyhoo, we kept on watching from the car and Jesse was having a blast. The video is a totally unplanned moment caught on tape where Jesse decides to wave to the people on the plane. Totally darling!!!

After a while, we tried to go to the Aviation Museum, but it was closed, so we headed uptown for a walk. Lots of folks had the same idea, so it was a pretty busy area for a Sunday. Now, they've got a lot of artsy pieces dotting the landscape downtown and most of them are okay, I guess, but this one of a shiny, bird thing-a-ma-jig is too much. What in the world could it represent about our city?

Birthday Number Two

2010-09-01T12:24:00.004-04:00

Last Friday was Jesse's second birthday. We decided to keep it low-key and just have a few friends over for pizza and cake. Jesse really loves 'i creen' right now, so it was the perfect opportunity to have my fave - Dairy Queen ice cream cake!

We invited a new friend of Jesse's, "C". Her parents taught our Dave Ramsey class and C & Jesse are in the same toddler class at church. They're both such laid-back kids and they played well together. Jesse never had any problems sharing his toys. In fact, when C would be done using something and give it back to Jesse he would say, "thank you" in this itty-bitty little voice.

Anne, Michelle and Kyndall (Michelle's youngest) came, too. Before we knew it, it was almost 9PM!! Jesse was up way past his bedtime, but was talk, talk, talking my ear off as we got ready for nite-nite. Then he just stopped, mid-sentence. It was very funny, actually. All of a sudden, he was OUT!!

Here are some vids from Jesse opening presents from his PA g-parents & aunt Judy, the party and the next day as Jesse tried to ride his new trike.

Swimming & Jumping

2010-08-09T13:53:00.003-04:00

Jesse swimming with his "Auntie" Anne
He likes to have TWO noodles. Always needs a 'nudder (another) one.

I let Jesse blow dry his own hair after a shower. Ha ha!!

Almost Two...

2010-08-05T10:13:00.004-04:00

Well, our little BooBoy will be two at the end of the month. Can hardly remember what it was like to hold that long-legged little baby.

We're still potty training. It's a slow process and we let him "hold the reigns", so to speak, about how fast or slow we progress. He's getting ready to move into the two year old room and they will be more willing to take him to "go potty" when he tells them he has to go. When we're home during the day, he wears pull-ups or nothing.

The problem with naked is that my little one likes to piddle on the floor. It's not that he doesn't know he has to go. It's more of an experiment. "Hey, look at this thing. I bet I can make it do stuff. Ooh, look at that!" He knows he's not supposed to pee on the floor and even sheepishly says "no floor" when he's done. It's really hard not to laugh sometimes. I just get out the resolve and make him wipe it with a paper towel.

We've had our first (and, please God, hopefully last) experience with him being able to open the door and "escape". My FIL was bringing in groceries on Saturday and I was putting away groceries/cleaning fruit in the kitchen. Jesse was wandering around playing and I could hear him talking to my SIL (who was upstairs) from the front hallway. Well, the screendoor was closed, but the big door was not. FIL was coming back and forth from the car with bags and, to this point, Jesse has been able reach the door handle (standing on tip-toe), but not completely turn it (it's stiff).

Apparently, he's tall & strong enough to open the screen door now. A few moments after I heard him talking to SIL, FIL went to check on him/close the front door. Jesse had gotten out onto the deck and closed the door behind him. FIL said that Jesse was very proud of himself. SO, now we make sure that the big door is closed ALL the time. Really need to find some grippy door handle thingys cause he'll be able to open all the doors very soon. Argh!! Lesson learned!! He's quick, smart AND eager to be "ow-side"!

And we're going through this phase where he is eating very little. Especially breakfast. Half the time, it's just a full sippy of milk and a few bites of waffle or fruit. I don't know how he makes it to snacktime at daycare. The teachers say that he eats all his lunch and he does okay with dinner, but he's definitely not the big eater he's been up til now. I've done my research, though, and this is totally common. They're not growing as much at this stage and don't need as many calories. He'll eat WHEN he's hungry and I shouldn't force him. As long as he's not losing weight, I don't have to worry.

Teaching this little guy to swim has been a blast, so far. He's not afraid of the water at all and learning to hold his breath while he's under water. Gigi and I stand about two-three feet apart and sort of start him moving through the water towards each other. He has a little dip under water before we grab him up and not once has he done any gasping or sputtering. He just opens his eyes and says "swim" and practically jumps out of your arms to go back again. He kicks really well, but is slow to do any dog paddling. When I show him, he just does the motions for "the wheels on the bus". It's totally cute, but useless as far as getting him anywhere in the water.

The Zoo

2010-07-15T13:37:00.007-04:00

Hubby was finally able to take a few days off from his eighty-hour-a-week grind, so we decided to take the BooBoy to the zoo. He really loves looking at his animal flash cards and we thought it'd be a good first family vacation/outing that wouldn't be too taxing, travel and budget-wise.

I got a GREAT deal on a hotel package from the Riverbanks Zoo website. $129 got us a King-sized Sleep Number bed at the Radisson with two free zoo tickets and a free dinner at their restaurant. This place was not much to look at from the outside, but when you went in....very nice! We checked in and went to the pool. Just 3 or 4 people sunning themselves and we had the pool to ourselves. After we'd tired out Jesse, we ordered our dinner in the room, since it was not exactly a 'family-style' restaurant. Then we sacked out on the bed watching Spider-Man on HBO and watching the storms pass over the city, from our window.

The next day, we had breakfast at Shoney's (literally the only place to eat along this road) and high-tailed it to the zoo for the 9AM opening. Again, not much to look at from the outside, but very well-kept and clean. I think Jesse really liked it. His eyes were really wide most of the time and he would just repeat the name of the animal and point. I don't think that there was anything that he freaked out about. I need to point out that it was very hot and VERY muggy, so we were all kind of lethargic about walking around in it. He did like looking at the flamingos or "flingoes", the penguins and the koalas. The giraffe stuck his head right next to us, at their exhibit, and if Jerry hadn't been holding him down, he might've jumped into the water with the aligator.

A nice day trip, if you plan it right, but having grown up going to the Philly Zoo, I had higher expectations, I guess. While the park was clean and the animals seemed happy, they didn't have any staff at each area to ask questions. The majority of the snack-shack type areas were closed and it was very quiet, even for the middle of the week. I guess the economy and budget cuts have hit everyone. In fact, the Botanical Gardens, which are connected to the zoo by a walking trail, were not staffed at all. It was like a ghost town. Plus, they wanted you buy a token (or all purpose wristband) to do any of the extras like feeding the giraffes or birds or riding the ponies/train. Good thing Jerry and I are of the same "Dave Ramsey" mind set and steered clear of those items.

All in all, a nice mini-vacay. Hope you enjoy the pics. Most of the animals were just laying around 'cause, man, it was H-O-T and HUMID!!

How Many Syllables Are In "Teeyew"?

2010-07-08T16:08:00.005-04:00

Jesse, sitting in a storage box, wearing his winter hat.

(I was preparing some boxes to go to our storage unit)

He put it on his ownself.

Jesse LURVES his chocolate "i creen" with whipped cream.

Jesse's daycare teacher has taught his class to count to ten. Utterly amazing what that woman can do! So, I've been trying to 'catch' him counting. He likes for you to help, though, and you have to alternate numbers. Some days, he'll skip 1 through 5 altogether.

Jesse is so funny with his pronunciations. I make him say stuff just to hear it. How many syllables can two have? How about fo-wah? His teacher is a lovely southern lady, so he's picking up the accent. We're still trying to break him of saying "doh-wah" instead of "door".

Flutter-By

2010-06-21T13:46:00.004-04:00

An "art" piece at the Science Center that doubles as a talking tube. In this pic, Gigi is singing "the babies on the bus" verse and Jesse is doing the motions.
Jesse listening to Woppy talk through the tube.

Petting a VERY friendly stingray at the aquarium.

Splashing (oops!) in the tank

Gigi holding a butterfly

Jesse getting tickled by the butterflies all around.

One of the attendants brought a butterfly over and placed it on Jesse's hand, since we were having no luck attracting one with our 'nectar'.

I'm not sure if he realized that it was real until after a few minutes.

Ooh, it moved!!

Looking around the "Flutter-By" exhibit at Catawba Science Center

Gimme a Ring...

2010-06-14T09:15:00.002-04:00

Jesse is obsessed with my cell phone. All cell phones, in fact, EXCEPT the one we gave him to play with (battery removed). They have to be "live". I'd let him have it, usually, but lately stuff gets misplaced on purpose and then he has no idea where he left it. Even calling it, I'd probably not find it in this huge house.

Last night, though, I broke my rule and let him 'hold it' for a bit, under Woppy's supervision. Woppy decided to keep calling the phone and Jesse was having a blast with my ringtone. He LOVES to dance, but it's too funny b/c he won't bend his knees. It's kind of a frankenstein shuffle from side-to-side. He also managed to send Woppy a blank text. He's TOO smart!!!

You Should See The Other Guy...

2010-06-01T15:46:00.007-04:00

First item of business...

Jesse was running and carrying his favorite book, "Cars & Trucks & Things That Go", when he tripped and fell. He didn't cry until he walked into the kitchen and we noticed that he had blood on his cheek. Then, I saw his eye...

All in all, a scraped cheek and a buggered up eye. A little neosporin and some ibuprofin later, he was fine.

We also played in our new kiddie pool this weekend 'cause it was HOT and H-U-M-I-D!!! Jesse liked playing with the hose (as usual) more than actually being in the pool, but he was happy, so it was fine. He managed to get bit (stung?) by a big black ant on his leg. Jesse was more mad that we had to take him inside (away from the pool) to strip him down and put Caladryl on him, than he was to be bitten.

Our garden is also growing like gangbusters. We had so much rain yesterday that I almost could see it getting bigger by the second!! Just about to have some squash and some tomatoes.

Thumb!

2010-05-28T08:30:00.003-04:00

Jesse and I were playing with his "Bowling for Bunnies" game last night and I decided to count the bunnies. So I said, "one, two, THREE bunnies" and Jesse says, "four, five, six....seven, eight, nine." You could've knocked me over with a feather. I did not know the boy could count, but boy that daycare teacher is AWESOME!!!

So I decided to try it again. I said, (holding up fingers) "one, two, three, four, five..." and Jesse said, "thumb" instead of six. Again, I held up fingers as I counted. But he just said, "one, two, three, four, five, THUMB!" Oh, well....

Gardens & Friends

2010-05-18T13:59:00.005-04:00

Been gone a little longer than I'd meant to be. We've been uber busy working on the garden(s) every weekend that I've barely remembered to pick up the camera and take a few pictures. Every time we've finished a project I say, "shoot, I meant to take before & after shots." Oh, well. Everything's starting to look great.

Gigi & Woppy took us to their 'new' favorite nursery this weekend. They let me pick out some plants to put in front of the porch. It was a mercy gift, since I am a declared "black thumb" and will most likely forget to water, feed or generally take care of said plants. They (the plants) do look pretty now and I managed to not get bit by any bugs (read: fire ants/wasps/etc.) while planting them. I'm sad that I didn't get my little Mother's Day gift dahlietta planted. I keep passing it on the porch stairs and it looks pitiful sitting there by itself.

Jesse is the most contented toddler, even while confined into a too-small space (his old playpen) while we are working in the yard. We put him there because his first inclination is to RUN towards the street. Plus, we keep him in the shade, so he won't get burned. It was insanely hot and humid this past weekend, but we managed to get everything planted before the storms rolled in. Honestly, we'd just put up the tools and locked the shed when the wind started to pick up.

Here is, also, a picture of Jesse's (and my) friend, Anne. We usually get together with her once a week for dinner or cards or whatever and Jesse looks for her all the time. He says her name like this, "Aaaaa-yun". He makes her sit and brings her books to read to him. I think he likes the voices that she uses for all the characters.

Then And Now (May 2009 and May 2010)

2010-05-03T11:14:00.004-04:00

It's Monday and I really feel like the weekend just blew by so quickly. We did a lot, but it just is a blur from Friday night to now. I watched a movie, "The Blind Side", on Friday and I highly recommend it. Sandra Bullock is great and Tim McGraw, well, that dude is good lookin' and his acting's not so bad either.

Saturday was groceries and laundry and grilling and an impromtu tickle-fest with Jesse. Sunday was volunteering in the church nursery and TWELVE screaming children. Okay, three (counting Jesse) weren't crying, but the rest were!!! The boobaby and I had lunch at Steak & Shake (yum) by ourselves, since Gigi and Woppy had to 'work'. Then, we wandered around the mall for a bit. Jesse napped in his stroller, while I found a great dress to wear to an outside wedding in a few weeks.

Went home and called the PA g-parents on Skype. (what a wonderful invention!) They had a blast talking (and seeing) Jesse. Played some more with the boobaby, ran to the store for milk, and then it was bedtime. Whew!

Didn't really take any pics this weekend, so I'm posting a then & now pic. We just marvel at how big Jesse is now!!!

Veggie Garden

2010-04-26T09:24:00.005-04:00

Gigi's Azaleas
Jesse and the hose

Jesse and Woppy

(He's not letting go of that hose!)

Jesse, taking a break

(still holding onto the hose!)

Jesse and Daddy looking at the neighbor's dog.

The box garden(s) for veggies are in the backyard, near the compost pile (leaves, grass, etc.).

This is where the best sunlight is in the whole yard!
Woppy built these box gardens because the neighborhood has voles (tiny, blind, mouse-like creatures that live underground and eat the plant roots),

so the raised beds take care of that problem.

I bought Jesse these water shoes for his backyard playtime (especially if it involves the hose). Kids shoes are SO darn expensive!! He has to wear "closed-toe" shoes for daycare and he has a good pair of sandals that I didn't want to get muddy, so I found these at Target and voila! problem solved!

Planting with Woppy

Repeat After Me

2010-04-16T09:58:00.005-04:00

When Jesse wants something, he repeats it. A lot. For example, if he wants something to drink, he says, "mill, mill, mill, mill, mill" or "duice, duice, duice". There's no shushing him, either. He just gets louder.

Sometimes, he's just learned a word or phrase and he likes to roll it around for a while and say it differently (like drawing it out). "See ya, seeeee ya, seeyaseeyaseeya, SEE ya".

He also has (finally) developed an attachment to a special item. Two, in fact. He has TWO blankies. They're both green, but one is a cottony soft "blantie" and the other is kind of furry soft. He has to have both of them to rock with and to go to sleep with. If I don't bring one or the other, he keeps pointing and saying, "blantie, blantie, blantie".

Last night, he was already in bed, with both "blanties" and saw his green towel lying on the floor. Of course, this started the repeater and pointing. Believe me when I say this, you cannot make a 19 month old understand that, no, that is NOT his "blantie" and just a towel. So we ended up with two blankies and a towel in bed with Jesse. Surprisingly, he went right to sleep after that. Gonna have to hid that towel tonight!

Water World and A Brief Hospital Stay

2010-04-09T08:49:00.006-04:00

Like my new hat? $2.50 at Once Upon A Child!
Pouring Water

Mommy's glow-in-the-dark white legs!

Splashing!

Got my frog and I'll squeeze it!!

Such a sweet face!

Jesse and Gigi

Ooh, that water is C-O-L-D!

So, our long weekend started out beautifully. It was warm, but not too hot. We got all our errands and laundry done early on Friday and spent a little time playing with Jesse's new 'water world' outside on Friday afternoon. Jesse had a blast, as you can see from the included pics/vids. On Saturday, he woke up with a little fever and was coughing a bit. I attributed it to teething. His bicuspids (sp?) are still pushing through - ALL FOUR of them - and he was keeping his hand at his mouth.

Sunday we went to church as usual, but by lunch time Jesse didn't want to eat anything but applesauce. I lay down with him for a nap and twenty minutes later he woke with this horrible barky (seal-like) cough AND he was wheezing. His little chest was working so hard with the effort of breathing. I immediately called the pediatrician and the triage nurse listened to him over the phone. The nurse said it sounded like croup and because he was having difficulty breathing, she sent us to the ER at Levine Children's Hospital. I was still suffering some back issues and couldn't carry DS, so MIL drove us down there. *DH was sleeping and had to work that evening, so I didn't wake him. I thought we'd be in and out, with a breathing treatment.

The nurse called ahead for us, so we were ushered into a room, in the ER, almost immediately upon arrival. From then on, there was a steady stream of nurses, docs, respiratory techs, etc. in to see Jesse. I lost count of how many times I got asked, "so mama, tell us how this all started". The first breathing treatment didn't really help. They gave him a steroid, but we'd have to hang around for six hours to see how it worked out. We were fine with that, but they also gave him a second breathing treatment. Then the doc said that she wanted to admit him for observation. I texted DH (at work) to let him know and he came immediately.

So, we spent the night in an extremely beautiful hospital room with an incredible view. This place is fantastic. The nurses were so awesome and we were well taken care of & wanted for nothing. If you have to take your kid to the hospital, this is definitely the place to go!! They have a playroom with tons of toys for the kids, snacks in the parents lounge and so much more. The care they gave us was second to none, though. They kept us well informed and checked on us constantly.

Anyhoo, Jesse was feeling much better the next day and they let him go home. We had to stay home for one more day to let him get some rest and then we went back to daycare/work on Wednesday. Who knew that croup could send a kid to the hospital? I'll be honest. All I'd ever heard, in relation to croup, was that you take the kid into the bathroom, run a hot shower and let the steam build up in the room to help him breath. The doctor said that this has not been proven to actually help (or hurt).

Croup is a virus that attacks the voice box and in most adults would simply cause a cold or even laryngitis, but small children don't have a large airway, so any inflammation can be very bad. Hence, the steroid and breathing treatments. *Doctor's explanation.

Playland @ Home

2010-03-29T07:53:00.003-04:00

Last weekend, we bought Jesse a little activity table. It's meant to have water and sand in it, but I think we're gonna forego the sand for now. Besides, Jesse LOVES to play in the water. Remember the cat dish incident last summer? Anyhoo, Gigi bought him a whole bagful of little plastic squeezy toys to go with and here are pictures of Jesse "helping" Woppy put it together. Actually, Jesse is very adept with a Phillips head screwdriver. His dexterity at this age amazes me. He fits it into the top of the screw and then tries to turn the screwdriver. His little hand doesn't quite have the strength yet, but, wow, this kid is gonna be taking apart toasters in no time!

Cheesecake and the Best Birthday Card EVER!

2010-03-19T07:53:00.005-04:00

Yesterday was my 35th birthday. I wasn't really looking forward to turning 35. In fact, I was kind of trying to avoid it altogether. Yes, I know, I'm gonna turn 35 whether I want to or not, but doggone it, I didn't have to advertise it either!

Anyhoo, my officemate and her daughter decorated my desk area. Colorful streamers and things hanging from the ceiling. Plus, a sign on the door that said, "Happy Stephanie Day". It kinda got me in the spirit. Two other friends took me to lunch at my favorite Japanese steakhouse, Nakato's. Ooh, their noodles are to die for!! I managed to get some work done after lunch.

Dinner was Chinese from Hop Feng's. Mmmm....sesame & orange chicken. Heaven. I'd found this recipe in Real Simple last weekend for a vanilla mousse cheesecake and my SIL made it for yesterday's dessert. So creamy and delicious and rich!!! Almost better than cake.

My mama and daddy sent me the best birthday card ever. It's huge. A square card, about 12in x 12in. When you open it, it plays the Star Wars Theme. Totally AWESOME!!! That movie started my love affair with sci-fi and it still thrills me to pieces to hear the soundtrack. Thanks everyone for making my red-headed stepchild of a birthday a fun one. Y'all are the best!

A Fine Weekend

2010-03-15T08:31:00.006-04:00

This weekend, the weather was super nice for mid-March. Unfortunately, it had rained nearly all week and the ground was uber muddy. So, no playing outside. :( We did a lot of running around (errands and such) on Saturday and Sunday, though. Thanks, Woppy, for watching Jesse while I, and the girls, went for a pedicure. Thanks, Gigi, for the pedicure!!! Come on Spring and flip-flops!!!

PICS:

Yes, Mom, his hair IS growing out!

Wearing Daddy's old tree cutting helmet.

Playing with the shelving unit that Mommy bought for the playroom.

New things for Jesse:

Can say "medcine" (medicine).
Can say "sleeves up" - before lunch, etc.
Can eat with a fork!!
Ate almost a whole avocado himself. Loves the green stuff!!
Can say "three blind mice" and loves it when you sing the rhyme to him.
Loves to play Ring Around The Rosie and will gladly do it 10, 20, 30 times in a row.

VID #1 - Jesse in the new "shoebox" we have near the door, since all of us like to be barefoot in the house. We needed a place to deposit the growing pile of discarded shoes. Much prettier and easy to get to before walking outside with the trash.

VID #2 - Jesse wants to climb. Everything. This is him climbing the outside of the stairs, since he can't get to the real stairs b/c of the gate. He's gonna get to the kitty somehow!

18 Months (and counting)

2010-03-02T08:25:00.004-05:00

Jesse had his 18 month checkup yesterday, though he was "officially" 18 months old on Feb. 27th. Our little munchkin weighs 26 lbs, 2 oz. and is 33 and a half inches tall. He grew an INCH since his last visit Nov. 27th!!

Jesse has over 50 words in his vocabulary and is using more every day, but do you think he would use any of them in front of the nice pediatrician? Noooooooooooo. I despaired of showing her how smart he is and how much he jabbers all the time. But then, she pulled out that thingy that she checks your eyes/nose/ears with and Jesse says, "Light!" and holds his finger right up to it and it glows bright red like in E.T. ( I was secretly thinking, "ET phone home").

After that the doc asked him where his eyes were and his nose and he pointed them out. Very cute. She gave him the tongue depressor to hold and he held it up to his ear and said, " 'lo?" Ped asks what he is doing. I say, with a smirk, "he is answering the phone."

Photo Op and Our New "Neighbors"

2010-02-23T15:54:00.007-05:00

We had Woppy take some photos of us this weekend and here are a few from the bunch. In the group shot, Jesse is just about to sneeze on Jerry. I had to wipe Jerry's head, it was such a big sneeze. Funny for all of us (except Jerry)!

While working in the yard this past Saturday, we noticed that this pair of hawks was constantly overhead. So we paid attention. We noticed that they kept landing in a certain tree a few houses down and that the tree had a huge nest in it. Guess we have new neighbors!! They were certainly a talkative bunch. Kept screeching all afternoon long. They even landed in a tree right outside Jesse's room and we got a couple of good pictures. One was yakking at the other and hopping up and down. I think it was the girl hawk giving her boy hawk his "honey do" list for the nest!!!

Saturday Snow Day

2010-02-15T09:20:00.004-05:00

Cupcakes and Doing the Dishes

2010-02-08T08:17:00.007-05:00

Today is Woppy's birthday! Jesse (Ok, I) made red velvet cupcakes this weekend, as a special treat. Jesse REALLY likes cupcakes and he loves icing even more. I let him lick a little bit off the spoon and he pestered me ceaselessly after that, so I pulled up his highchair and gave him one to eat. I know, a TON of sugar, but he was very cute eating it. :) We saved the biggest one for Woppy and put a candle on it and sang "Happy Birthday". Happy Birthday, Woppy!!

Jesse loves water. He loves the shower. He loves the bath. He loves the water that comes out of the fridge door. He even loves the catdish. Anything he can splash in, basically. So Gigi put him up on the stepstool this weekend and let him 'help' with the dishes. Basically, he just rinsed his hand and the same measuring cup a billion times, but he eventually swished it in the soapy water and rinsed it, too. He was SO HAPPY, but he was also REALLY SOAKING WET and very unhappy when mommy made him stop and get changed into dry clothes.

He's so smart. He knows he can't reach the lever on the fridge door water dispenser yet, so he'll get other objects out of his play drawer (or his sippy) and use them to push the button. This only makes him (and the floor) wet. He always acts surprised when the water that splashes him is cold.

Big Boy Bed

2010-02-04T07:57:00.004-05:00

Jesse strongly disliked being in his crib. Wouldn't nap in it, wouldn't sleep in it at night, didn't wanna be in it for any reason. Since he's getting a little older, we decided it's time for him to start transitioning into a big boy bed. I did a lot of internet research and price comparisons, etc. before deciding on a bed from IKEA. It's an extendable bed. This means that the bed starts out short, but wide, and then will eventually fit a twin size mattress. It's very low to the ground, so he can easily climb in and out of it himself. It comes with a mattress that has three pieces to it that can be added in when you extend it.

Right now, it kind of looks like one of the seven dwarves' beds, but Jesse really likes it. I know that getting him used to sleeping alone, instead of with us, will take some time. Each night this week, I've climbed into bed with Jesse and read a story (or two or three). Then I turn on his lullaby CD and rub his back 'til he settles down. He'll stay in there by himself for an hour or two, but then he's ready to come sleep with me.

I'm not in a hurry to do this 'all at once'. Jerry's working night shift, so it's not a huge deal for Jesse to keep sleeping most of the night with me. My plan is to continue the nighttime routine and on the weekends, have him take his naps in the big boy bed. I know eventually, he'll want to be in it all the time because having to share a Queen bed with Mommy and Daddy is no fun when you're a stretcher-outer like Jesse is.

A new slide!

2010-01-27T14:58:00.003-05:00

Daddy - sitting IN the slide house. Betcha can't guess how he got in there!
Jesse - "cooking" with Gigi!! Now that he can climb up on the kitchen chairs,
there's no stopping him!

Making LIME soup!

Jesse and his best bud, Scout!

Sorry, it's been a while. I've been busy and then I got sick this weekend. Ended up being off work for a few days, too. But anyhoo....Jesse's Gigi & Woppy had been waiting for Jesse's Christmas present to be back in stock (at the store) and it came in this week. Can you guess what it is? Yeah, a slide!! What gave it away? Oh, the title.

Jesse loves his new 'lide. He gets to play on some at preschool a couple of times a week, so having one at home is the "bee's knees". He is ecstatic!! Plus, here are a few pics of his new best bud, Scout (the green puppy).

Birdfeeder(s)!!!

2010-01-15T09:28:00.004-05:00

Jesse is obsessed with "buhds" (birds) right now, so we placed two birdfeeders outside his bedroom window. Hoping to attract some of the many different birds that are in our natural areas. We succeeded, only....Jesse keeps pounding on the window and yelling "buhd, buhd" and scaring them away.

The brave ones - the chicadees and nuthatches- will eat no matter what, but the cardinals (especially the females) are scaredy-cats. We even had a big fat squirrel picking seeds up off the ground. He didn't care one way or the other whether we were there. Just kept stuffing his face.

So far, we've had a woodpecker, a nuthatch, a chicadee, multiple male/female cardinals, and some other ones I haven't identified yet.

Also, here's a quick video with Jesse saying his new favorite phrase...."big mess". He learned to say it when MIL & SIL were rearranging the furniture in the living room over the holidays. Now, he says it for everything. Big mess on the high chair, big mess on the floor, big mess, big mess, big mess!

"Naked Baby" and the 'Nanner Pudding

2010-01-06T09:44:00.002-05:00

Woppy made banana pudding for his BSF meeting Monday night and, of course, there were leftovers. I do not eat bananas, but Jesse LOVES it!!! He was even licking his fingers between spoonfuls. Who taught him to do that??

Then, his favorite "game" right now is to make you pick him up and then get down (from your lap) again right away. We definitely get our strength training in with this big guy. Woppy and Jesse are in the video and then you'll also hear my good friend, Anne and the Colonel (a friend of Woppy's), who is visiting from Ohio.

Yes, I realize that my child is perpetually naked (diaper -only) in a lot of these videos. He actually prefers not to wear clothes. He's very warm-blooded (like his mama) and cries when I make him put PJs on. In these videos, he's undressed because we had lasagna and he tends to get it everywhere. He's easier to clean up (hose down) when he's already half nekkid. :)

Pics from Christmas

2009-12-28T08:44:00.003-05:00

Toilet Paper!!!
Tiana & Micah

Mom, Mike & Jesse

Jesse & Dad

Micah having a snack! Say cheese (crackers)!

Mike..the baby whisperer extraordinaire

He put Jesse to sleep about three times for me during our stay.

A long day!!!

Mike holding Jesse and me feeding him a cupcake.

To Grandmother's House We Go

2009-12-22T19:50:00.002-05:00

Well, we finally made it to PA on Monday. It was a crazy weekend, to say the least. We had a flight for Saturday morning, but after we'd boarded, were told to de-plane because Philly was closing down. Stood in line for four hours (with Jesse!) to get rebooked and they put me on a flight Sunday. My FIL and I went to the airport on Sunday (flight was canceled) and stood in line for another five hours to get rebooked for Monday. Monday's flight went great. Jesse only cried for about ten minutes before falling asleep (we'd been up since 4AM).

Found my parents and Aunt "Doody" pretty quickly and miracle of miracles, found my bag, too!! It had arrived before me in Philly. Of course, yesterday we were exhausted, but today was better. Spent time with family and shopped a little since I'd done no Christmas preparations before arriving.

Miss my hubby like crazy, but Jesse is having a great time playing with his cousin Micah and meeting his extended family. What a blessing to be able to actually be here!!

Random Pics

2009-12-16T08:20:00.001-05:00

Big Weekend...

2009-12-11T21:40:00.002-05:00

So, our ministry has our HUGE, GINORMOUS Christmas program this weekend. It's been an incredibly busy semester. I think we've had something going on at least twice a month, if not more. Several big projects like the Cutting Edge Hymn recording that our choir did in October, followed by being part of the NC Baptist State Convention. I feel like I've been two steps behind since August and barely keeping up.

It could possibly be that my workload has simply increased. In fact, I've not only doubled, but tripled the amount of work that is needed for Sunday services alone. New software was installed shortly after I returned from maternity leave last year and over the course of the year, has been given more completely into my hands, as opposed to the tech dept. Because of some issues with our "back screen", I also have to retype everything into Powerpoint for our choir.

I kept thinking that I must be doing something wrong. After all, why should I be so tired all the time. Yes, I have a 15 month old and yes, I go to bed at 9PM. This is the first week that I realized, really, just how much STUFF has been added to my weekly plate. It happened at a brunch for the secretaries' "Secret Sisters". I was just filling in a co-worker about how the other Music Staff secretary and I share duties. Her mouth just kind of kept hanging open and I was all like, what? Don't ya'll have the same kind of workload? She just shook her head.

My OCD just won't let me say that it's too much. I mean, there HAS to be some way to be organized enough or list everything or cross off something to get some semblance of order back, right? I try really hard not to short-change my family, but I find myself worrying about work stuff while I'm at home and that is just not cool. I have this amazing son and a wonderful husband, plus a great support system of people.

I find myself just really looking forward to a break this Christmas, to really enjoy the season as it's meant to be. To be with family and see old friends. I need to take a deep breath and not take myself so seriously. I mean, I know where I'm going, in the end, so why worry now?

Thanks for letting me ramble. We'll be back to our regularly scheduled toddler programming soon. (when I remember to upload those photos & vids).

Love ya'll, mean it!!!

Random Stuff

2009-11-30T13:55:00.004-05:00

Even after the long weekend, I still don't have a lot to talk about. It's gonna be a busy couple of weeks and I think my brain may have checked out already.

Anyhoo, Jesse had his MMR & Chicken Pox vaccinations on Friday, as well as a seasonal flu shot. He was a BEAR over the weekend. The only really scary side effect was a 102 degree fever on Friday night (2AM). Motrin cured it and I let him sleep in just a diaper and a sheet, with the fan running, for the rest of the night. He cooled down quickly.

His little temper is beginning to show through, so I thought I'd slip in a video that shows the randomness of his "bouts of insanity". Also, there's one of Jerry with a blinky Rudolph nose on and Jesse's reaction to it. I said I didn't have a lot, but here's some pics from the tree lighting (in our yard) and the ginormous flourescent (sp?) orange spider (and her eggs) that was hanging over the front door.

Love ya'll, mean it!

Big GRRRRR, little grrr!

2009-11-12T15:43:00.002-05:00

Like I said, Jesse's fave game right now is "Grrr". Basically, he goes out in the kitchen and comes back in the living room and someone scares him. He laughs and laughs. The Scare-er needs to make a big "GRRRRR" sound and then Jesse makes a little "grrr" sound. Very cute. I think he could do it all night. Certainly makes bedtime go a little quicker. What with the exhaustedness and everything. :)

Yardwork & Playtime

2009-11-10T07:49:00.004-05:00

Playing with my big legos

There's my broom!

Caught again!

I love this chair!

Open the box, close the box!

Yardwork with Mommy & Gigi!

Jesse's been very busy.

He can say: flower, no, get down, (ba)nana, kitty, gigi, woppa, daddy, mama, hello, hi, bye-bye, dat (that), Nelno (Elmo), Mmmm!, apple, up, bottle, night-night and nose.

He can point out mommy's nose and we're working on ears now.

He can flush the toilet. He gets a big kick out of it, so I let him do it, but only once. I say, "we only flush ONE time (holding up one finger)" and then lead him out of the bathroom.

He loves to open drawers & cabinets and take everything out, then put it all back in (jumbled). He'll do this over and over.

He loves to be "scared". He'll giggle like crazy and run back out of the room just to come back and do it again. Over and over.

Woppy shortened a broom for him because he loves to "sweep" inside the house. Really, he just pushes or carries it around, but he's very possessive of it.

Bounce!

2009-10-27T09:15:00.003-04:00

Jesse, eating Gigi's oatmeal and showing off his "shiny shoes" (from Grammy) to Woppa. Jesse's new shoes light up when he walks and he keeps stopping to look at them, but then they stop, of course. It's pretty cute.

Now that Jerry's working six days a week, he doesn't get a lot of "daddy & Jesse" time. He definitely makes the most of what he does have and NO ONE makes Jesse laugh like Daddy.

On Friday, I was sitting at the table eating dinner and watching Jesse play on the kitchen floor. He was busy tossing all the tupperware across the floor. (it's his favorite pasttime, these days). I looked down to take a bite and in those few moments, he managed to get himself seated inside his Woppa's lunchbox. I grabbed the camera and tried to control my laughter. VERY HARD!!! Then I realized that he couldn't get enough leverage to stand up and had to help him get out. Too funny!!!

Hiyo Silver, Away!!!

2009-10-10T14:45:00.004-04:00

He did it!! He finally did it!! All by himself, he climbed up onto his pony!!! Jesse just walked over to his pony, had me push it into the middle of the living room and then he climbed onto it. Okay, he was practically there until I yelped cause he was finally doing it. Then, luckily, Woppy got out his camera and video-ed the "actual" climbing onto the pony. Beginning to end. The look of pure joy on Jesse's face is priceless. It's so awesome!! And then, he starts rocking himself. It's just TOO cool!!
NOTE: The video had to be broken up because it was too long to load. So the first Vid is Jesse getting on and the second one is right after that.

The toys that AREN'T toys...

2009-10-09T16:15:00.003-04:00

Jesse's new fave toy right now isn't a toy. It's a $2.99 dishwashing tub I got a WalMart to store his little bitsy toys in. You know, the ones that always end up under foot as your trying to traverse the nursery in the dark and don't look sharp, but leave a mean bruise when you step on 'em.

Anyhoo, he loves to put things in the tub and take things out of the tub. He likes to sit IN the tub and put things in on top of himself. He like to empty the tub out all over the floor. And he likes to ride in it. Jerry's actually the one who came up with entertaining Jesse by pulling/pushing him around in the tub. Jesse LOVES it!!

Here's a cute video I caught the other night.

We're Ba-ack!!!!

2009-10-01T20:58:00.005-04:00

O happy blogging day! My dad sent me a laptop of my very own!! Now, I'll be able to blog again and comment on other people's blogs, etc. Yea for me!!

Okay, our little munchkin is growing up sooooo fast. Can you believe that he's thirteen months old already? He very clearly says: mama, dada (or daddy) and kitty. He also says bott-uh (bottle), uh-oh, waffuh (waffle), woppa (Woppy -grandpa) and Gee (Gigi-grandma).

We've been co-sleeping with Jesse since he was about four months old, off and on, and almost completely since the remodel here at the house, due to the toilet flood of early summer. I just really haven't wanted to make him sleep in his crib. Now, he's getting to be a bit of a bed-hog, so we're trying to transition him into a toddler bed. He really, really, really hates (hated) being in the crib. Probably cause I used it as "baby jail" so much. Anyhoo, it's only been a couple of nights, but I'm putting him in it for about twenty minutes and letting him roll around and do his "dog finding a place to lay down" act for a while. He doesn't seem quite ready to be by himself just yet, so he's still sleeping with me. I've warned the hubs that it might be a long process, but who knows at this point.

Anyway, we had our first ear (double) infection last week. Not fun, since it coincided with the movement of a few molars Jesse's getting in. God bless Motrin and Hyland's Teething Tablets.

Jerry started a new job this week with Pop-A-Lock of Charlotte and has been training outside for most of the week. They unlock cars, change tires, etc. Same as AAA, except no towing. You'll notice the lovely picture of his "red" neck. It actually got worse as the week went on. We ended up daubing him with tea bags yesterday in order to soothe the burn. We also bought him a "golfer's hat" with a wide brim, so that he'll be okay outside from now on. He's using the baby's SPF 50 sunscreen, too.

Love you guys and I've missed blogging. Was sitting her while the computer booted wondering what I was going to say. Now, I probably should stop while I'm ahead. XOXO Stephanie

First Birthday!!!

2009-08-31T14:51:00.006-04:00

Okay, so this is gonna be mostly pics 'cause I'm exhaustified from the weekend (and the work that led up to it). Jesse's first birthday party!! Thank you to everyone who gave my sweet little boy a present and spent time with us this past weekend! Thank you to my family, near and far, for ALL that you do for us. We love you and hope you enjoy these pics!! P.S. I will be loading the majority of the pics onto Facebook on Tuesday (9/1). xoxo

Been A While

2009-08-08T20:05:00.004-04:00

Well, folks, they finally caught on and changed the settings on our internet at work. So, no more posting video & pics on my lunch hour. Boo hoo hoo!! Anyhoo, I'm gonna try to do this at least once a week at home. It's very hard to wrench the computer away from my husband who is ADDICTED to Lords of the Rings online game.

Jesse can say "dada", "daddy", "gee-gee"(grandma grace), "kit-ty", "uh, oh", "bottle" (which he also signs) and "dat". He is walking really well now and is into, onto, and over, everything!! He loves lima beans and ice cream. He's transitioning really well into whole milk and I think we'll be completely there in the next few weeks. Hurray for no more formula!!!

He's got five teeth. Two on top and three on the bottom. But he's working on several on top at the moment. His poor little gums are SO swollen. Thank goodness for Hyland's Teething Tablets or we wouldn't get any sleep.

We're having a birthday party for Jesse on the 29th and I've invited a bunch of people that I work with, Jesse's childcare teachers, some friends, and their children for a pool party cookout. I'm planning to make Jesse's cake all by my ownself, so that he can smash it all up!!!

Love ya'll and don't worry if I don't get on here as much. I'll try to post when I can. Smooches!!

Hopefully, I'll be able to upload some pics. One is of me, Mama Sue, Tara (my partner in crime) and Dr. Doug at our banquet last week. The others are, of course, Jesse being adorable. The video is of him sitting by the front door (what we call "Jesse's TV") and listening to a storm roll through.

This Is How I Roll....

2009-07-20T16:33:00.002-04:00

Jesse refuses to sit in the cart correctly. It doesn't matter what store we're at, he's styling and profiling with his arm resting on the back (of his seat) and turned slightly to the side, with his leg propped up. He casually people-watches while mommy & daddy shop. It's so darn cute, I took a picture.

Pickin' Up Peaches

2009-07-16T09:43:00.003-04:00

Almost every day, I get to 'have lunch' with Jesse. I'm very fortunate to work in the same building (sort of) that my son's daycare is in and can walk up to see him anytime I need a cuddle. His teacher is SOOOOOOO sweet and loves Jesse to pieces. Miss Carol's been working with Jesse on picking up food and putting it in his mouth. A huge achievement that he went from zero to sixty on, I can tell you.

Last night, he had his very first McDonald's french fries & (pieces of) hamburger. He also managed to eat part of the straw wrapper, a corner of the place mat and a corner of the cardboard fry holder. He's got a bit of an obsession with paper right now and will eat anything in paper form, including: my eye doctor's business card, his 'report card' from daycare and receipts.

Some of Jesse's favorite things to do (these days):

open any (and all) cabinet doors - he can take the 'safety' locks off & I'll usually turn around to find him banging it on the floor/wall/etc.
take a shower (with mommy)
try to touch the big fan - ALL fans are his obsession right now. Have to be very careful!!
open the drawers of his bureau and toss out all (folded) clothes, etc. that my be inside them.
look out the windows of his room @ the backyard/neighbor's house
yell at the top of his lungs over and over and over and over again
stand at the gate (at the bottom of the stairs) and stare at the cat, who teases him by sitting just out of his reach.

I Go Walkin'...

2009-07-13T08:37:00.001-04:00

Baby Steps

2009-07-10T08:00:00.003-04:00

So, Jesse's taking steps. This video isn't a very good representation because he's tired & cranky in this one and he realizes that we're trying to get him to 'perform' for the camera. He's smart like that. Anyhoo, please ignore the slobby outfit I have on and the very obvious crankiness Jesse is displaying and keep your eyes on the feet.
Love ya'll!!

Aye, Aye, Captain!

2009-07-07T15:06:00.003-04:00

Jesse's been in the pool a lot in the last week. He's doing so well. He's even attempted to put his face in the water (and blow bubbles) on several occasions. The water's been a teensy (ok, a lot) bit chilly and he's shivered his way through it, but all in all, I think he likes it.

Jerry & I had debated about getting him a 'floaty' from walmart. You know, those plastic doohicky's that they sit in and paddle, but ended up settling on this flotation device we found in the boating section. Our rationale was that he's going to be walking (toddling) soon and IF he would accidentally fall in the pool, this would ensure that his head would at least be above water until we could get to him. Plus, he's really cute in his big yellow vest!!

The Giggle-Monster!

2009-06-29T15:22:00.003-04:00

On Saturday, I had to work in the morning (my church had a huge production on Sunday night & since my ministry was the one doing it, I had to be there), so I hadn't had lunch yet, but needed to run a few errands. I grabbed a bag of tortilla chips (healthy, I know) and sat on the ottoman to 'take the edge off' the hunger pangs. Jesse, who, as you can see, is still in our bedroom awaiting the re-construction of his nursery ceiling, was playing in the crib a few feet from me. I crunched down on a chip and out of nowhere Jesse starts giggling this totally awesome belly-laugh!

I kept crunching and he kept laughing. It's so cute, too, when he sighs in the middle of it. Likes he's exhaustified from laughing! *Yes, I know exhaustified is not a real word. I thought about sending it to AFV, but then I couldn't post it. HAD to share it with ya'll. Love my little giggle-monster!!

Vroom, Vroom!

2009-06-26T12:36:00.002-04:00

On My Own Two Feet

2009-06-25T08:51:00.003-04:00

Jesse is spending a lot more time standing lately, he'll take some steps IF he's holding onto something (a hand, furniture, etc.), but he's not quite brave enough to go on his own yet.

Still, this is a huge deal for him. He's learning so much at once, it seems like. Clapping, standing for long periods of time, cruising, using a walker (toy car). Happy Ten Months Birthday, little one. Love you!

ALSO, you'll probably notice that these are not his normal surroundings. The upstairs toilet cracked (yes, cracked!) on Monday and overflowed into Jesse room below. So, the light fixture filled with water and the surrounding ceiling was damaged. We're waiting for the insurance adjuster to come and do his thing.

Meanwhile, Jesse is staying in our room. So is his crib, changing table and the glider, which makes for close quarters, but more on that later.

Happy Father's Day

2009-06-19T14:34:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to say "Happy Father's Day" to the great dads in my life. My own, my father-in-law, my husband and my brother. Love you guys!!

Weird Week

2009-06-18T08:12:00.002-04:00

It's been a weird week. First, an encounter with the embroidered edge of a sheet caused a very large abrasion on my cornea. Of course, this happened at 4AM on Sunday morning. Waited until 6AM to wake my husband, who got his mom, who said that I needed to go to the ER. Well, I decided to do Urgent Care, which only opened at 8AM. Meanwhile, pain, pain, PAIN!!!

Urgent Care sent us to the ER, cause she didn't want to "touch this one". ER guy lit up my eye with a UV light and said "yep, you've got a big scratch", told me it would be 'markedly' better by the end of the day and sent me home with some lovely pills and antibiotic drops. He was WRONG!!

By Monday morning, it was excrutiating!!!! At 8AM, I was on the phone with Charlotte ENT and got their earliest appt. at 3PM. Argh!! Was crying so bad every time I had to blink that my husband put me in the car at 1:30PM and drove me over there. Thank heavens we were able to be seen early. The nurse gave me some numbing drops right away (hallelujah!) and then the doc came in. He looked at my eye and declared that, yes, there IS a large scratch and it has some ragged edges that. need. to. be. SHAVED!!!!

I asked, in a very small voice, "will it hurt very much?". He was very sweet and said "not at all". Meanwhile, he pulls out this medieval contraption that looks like a bent paper clip and proceeds to put it in my eye to keep the eyelid open. O M G!!! The actual shaving part didn't hurt, but boy did the eye hurt later.

Thankfully, they put a contact in to cover the damage and gave me these nice numbing drops to take home. Ahhhh! Missed two & half days of work for a a run-in with a stupid sheet. Needless to say, I turned that sheet around and have the soft edge (bottom) near my face at night.

Let this be a lesson to you! Watch out for embroidered sheets that lurk in the shadows of your bedroom. Tee-hee!

Happy Friday

2009-06-12T13:58:00.002-04:00

Just some pics and a video today. Been a long week!!

Sleepless In Charlotte

2009-06-10T16:47:00.005-04:00

We seem to be moving into this uncomfortable, crabby stage with Jesse (the first of MANY, I'm sure) that he's just not snapping out of with his usual 'joi de vivre'. He's kind of whiny and starting to have itty-bitty temper tantrums (that are C-U-T-E!) and just generally be a Mr. Fussypants. That's actually what we've started calling him when he's whiny. I know, I know, he's gonna end up in therapy b/c of it. We also substitute J-E-S-S-E in the Bingo song. Can't wait til he gets to kindergarten and tells the teacher that that song is about him and NOT some dog.

Ok, I digress. Call me Sleepless in Charlotte. I'm like a walking zombie most days and I'm REALLY trying hard to cut out (ok, down on) the caffeine, so as not to be dependent on it (i.e. come crashing down at 2PM). However, when the FIL makes coffee every morning and very sweetly puts out the Hershey logo mug just for moi, it's pretty hard to say 'no'. The MIL & FIL takes turns making breakfast, too. Can you tell I've got it 'made in the shade'? Seriously, tho, I LOVE THEM!!!

I could at this very moment climb under my desk and curl up into a ball and snooze. I've got my little space heater to keep my cozy. How much longer will this go on? Argh!! Okay, I'm gonna start whispering in Jesse's ear tonight while I'm feeding him.....you want to sleep thru the night, you will sleep thru the night, you must sleep thru the night and so on. Does osmosis/hypnosis/repetative incantation work on 9 month olds?

All I want for Christmas is eight hours of sleep!

2009-06-08T16:11:00.004-04:00

Jesse likes to bounce. Seriously, when you hold him in a standing position, he always tries to bounce up and down. I'm gonna have to start calling him "Tigger".

So this weekend we tried putting him in this contraption (I don't know what to call it) that hangs from a doorway and lets him bounce to his heart's content. The only (slight) drawback is that the seat of the thing is too wide, so Jesse has trouble touching the ground completely with both feet. I don't want to lower it too much more or he'll hurt himself jumping. This kid could TAKE OFF!!

Another Kind of Pooh...

2009-06-05T08:56:00.005-04:00

Jesse has a set of stacking cups, made by Disney, that have a small, plastic Winnie The Pooh figurine that came with it. We're teaching him to "wait" while we stack the cups and then put Pooh on top before he knocks the stack over. He's usually excited about this process, but last night he was getting a teensy bit grumpy and that'll show up in one of these vids. His little (dare I say, temper tantrums?) are too cute and make me laugh more often than not.

Also, these vids include moments we caught of Jesse standing ON HIS OWN!!

Anyway, our typical night includes dinner with the family (Jesse sits in his high chair at the dining room table) and then some play time (to wear him out!), a bedtime bottle and then trying to get Jesse down for the night (around 7:30PM). My new system is to put him down drowsy and then sit in the rocker, near him, and read (to myself) while he fusses and such. I'll get up every couple of minutes and lay him back down, cover him, and wait again, while/until he falls asleep. I think we may be onto something b/c it's taken less and less time each night. Here's hoping.

Enjoy the pics and vids of our playtime. Check out the tongue that is constantly sticking out. I think he likes to rub it against the two teeth, on top, that are coming in now.

How Much?

2009-06-01T15:46:00.002-04:00

Jesse had his nine month appt. on the 27th and my friend & coworker, Tara, was the big winner in guessing Jesse's weight. He's 20lbs and 2.5 oz.!!!!

Lord, Won't Ya Buy Me A Mercedes Benz...

2009-05-27T08:35:00.002-04:00

We're trying to encourage Jesse to take some steps. He'll 'cruise' from different pieces of furniture and stand for up to ten seconds on his own, but no "real" walking yet. There was an ice chest in the kitchen for a few days after Woppy used it to carry banana pudding to his BSF meeting, so Jesse was using it as a walker and pushing it all over the linoleum. Woppy & Grammy Grace decided to go ahead and get him his very own walk/ride mobile. He took right to it, as you can see in the video. Happy nine months birthday, Jesse!!

Oatmeal, Mmmm!

2009-05-26T15:18:00.006-04:00

Jesse is learning (sort of) to eat more solid foods and by that I mean "real" people food, not the pureed stuff in the Gerber jars. He LOVES his Gerber purees, though, and it's been an uphill battle to get him to at least try to eat a cheerio, yogurt melt, potatoes, bread, etc. Jesse makes the cutest faces, though, when he spits it back out. However, this morning, we just may have found a way to entice him to try more.

Grammie Grace was eating oatmeal for breakfast and Jesse was sitting on her lap. He thinks he wants what you have and then spits it out immediately, so I wasn't hopeful when she offered him some. First try: oatmeal all over the bib. THEN, Gracie takes a big spoonful and makes "yummmmm" sounds while she eats it. Jesse is MESMERIZED!! So she gives him a little, while making the sound and he doesn't hate it! Wonder of wonders, why didn't I think of that? We caught a little bit of his funny faces on this video, but had stopped filming when Jesse made the "mmm" sound while eating a spoonful. Ah, well, can't catch 'em all, right?

This weekend it was REALLY hot and muggy in the house because it was raining, so Jesse spent most of his playtime as "Naked Baby". Ok, so he's not really naked....but we say that to him when we take his clothes off and it makes him giggle, so I'm gonna keep using it. Technically, Naked Baby wears a diaper. :)

One of Jesse's new favorite pasttimes (and a good way to keep him occupied for a while) is looking out the window. He just looks and looks and looks. It's pretty adorable. In fact, whenever we go outside, I'm afraid his little head is going spin completely around from trying to look at EVERYTHING!!! My little observer.

Baby Jail

2009-05-19T12:34:00.008-04:00

So, Jesse doesn't really get time out's yet, but I do need the occasional moment to walk into another room for something (or go to the bathroom!). This means Jesse goes into "Baby Jail". In actuality, it's just his crib. I throw a few toys in there to keep him occupied (fat chance!) and plop him down. I've learned to time a trip into the kitchen or the laundry room with his attention span. If he'll play with the toys in there, I've got maybe ten minutes. If he's already a bit fussy, then it's mere moments.

Grammy & Woppy bought some baby gates for the house this past weekend, so Jesse's been enjoying a little more "freedom" to roam. Technically, he's never really been allowed on the kitchen floor because there are too many escape routes (to the dining room, living room & hallway), so it is a BIG treat to crawl all over the linoleum and hang out with us while we cook.

In these pics, he's happy as a clam and Woppy is taking his photo, so he's not really alone.

The Kitchen Sink

2009-05-18T13:07:00.003-04:00

So, now that we're living at the in-laws, it's a bit of a haul to take all Jesse's stuff upstairs to put him in the big bathtub (our bathroom only has a shower), so I've taken to bathing him in the kitchen sink. It's something I can remember doing at my nana & pappy's house when I was little. Jesse seems to really like it. Probably cause it's Jesse-size AND he gets to look out the kitchen window while he bathes. Bonus! The only downside is that he loves to touch everything, spigot, knobs, spray nozzle, you name it, it gets touched and WET!! I have to have two towels. One to wrap Jesse in at the end and one to sop up all the splashed water. It's a fun time for us, though. The other night, Woppy was home during our bathtime and managed to catch Jesse in his 'altogether'. Love these pics!!

Also, Jerry is teaching Jesse to be comfortable sitting on his shoulders. Jesse loves to be 'tall', so it's one of his favorite things to do and now that Jerry's shaved his head for the summer, he gets to 'rub' his head, too.

Almost Nine Months!

2009-05-14T15:26:00.000-04:00

What a difference six months makes!!