My Babies

First of all, I can't believe how lucky I am to be able to kiss these cheeks all day! They are the PERFECT pillow for my lips! So soft and plump. If they could, my lips would permanently plaster themselves to this boy's face. But, that's weird, so it's a good thing this isn't a possibility.

Are you kidding me? Look at how cute he is!

The little girl pictured above is pretty stinken' cute too! We're all in love with her. She makes me smile so much. Hunter's face lights up when he sees her, and Jim calls her his girlfriend. She's so lucky! Jim takes her out for milkshakes once a week. They both get a small chocolate milkshake, take a drive together, and sometimes hit up a park. Come to think of it, Jim's the lucky one to get to spend this quality time with our little Stink.

Tralee loves Hunter, and Hunter loves Tralee. I have high hopes that as they grow up, they'll watch out for each other. Be best friends. That sort of thing.

Hunter is ALWAYS happy. Even if he's hungry and fussing, it just kills him not to smile. There are times when I can't get to him right away if he's fussing (usually the two-year-old has something to do with this) but, as soon as I pick him up to feed him, he gives me a little grin through all of his tears.

Would you just look at those cheeks! I love how they droop. Tralee's a little beauty in the back there. Have I told you she started saying her own name? She calls herself "Tree" instead of Tralee. She's our little Tree.

Just thinkin'. Probably thinkin' about food. He loves to eat. When he's not eating, he's gotta be chewing on something, usually his fingers. Any one will do.

Hunter's new trick! He's already getting close to crawling. What a smart little fella!

If you can't tell, I adore my children.

Elder Jacobs: The Next Generation

I took some of Jim's old mission things (suit, badge, tie) and "dressed" Hunter in them.

Now, who could slam the door on a face like that?

For Grammy Char Char

Here they are mom. Videos galore! Well, three anyway.

Love you.

As for the rest of you, you're invited to look too, if you want.

Correction

I have to make a correction from my last post. When I said "someone" thinks it's the woman's job to deal with spiders/mice that wasn't correct. That "someone" told me what I typed was wrong and he wanted a correction made. This "someone" stated:

"I don't mind killing mice. Mice need to die. I'll deal with the mice. But, I like spiders. They kill other bugs that I don't like. If you don't like spiders, don't call me while I'm working to complain about a scary spider in the house. Just deal with it."

The woman "someone" still thinks spider squishing is strictly the man's job. She will stop calling to complain about spiders during the day while he's working, but the spiders will still be waiting under mugs and glasses where they've been trapped, or hanging out in their webs for her husband to kill when he gets home. Sorry, that's just the way it is.

To My Fiesty Little Girl

My Dear Tralee,

I took this picture of you a year ago. I can't believe how much of you has changed! The few wisps of hair I so proudly pulled into pigtails have now grown into golden locks. That little dress I put you in as much as possible, wouldn't come close to fitting you now. Your baby-ness is slowly disappearing with each day, and it hurts my heart to see my first baby grow into a little lady. Then I look at this picture again and realize though you may be growing, so much of you remains the same. Look at your misplaced shoes, on the wrong foot. A sign that tells me you didn't want my help as you put them on yourself that morning. You still do that. Refuse my help for things you think you can do all by yourself. You have such fiery independence. You always have. You probably always will. I love how, in this image, your lips are pressed together in a proud sort of way as you make your way down the stairs. Look how even your eyes pierce the camera's lens as if to say, "See, I can do it myself!" I love your strong will, even though it can drive me bananas any day of the week. You have a drive to do things yourself, even if it means getting more and more frustrated as you try and fail, and try and fail, and try and fail, because deep down inside you know you'll eventually try and succeed. You're one of those souls who will never give up. This is good. Your confidence has come built right in. I don't need to make sure you have it. I just need to make sure it's properly nurtured, and will always be with you, because I want you to grow up and stay confident, fiery, and passionate. I also want you to know that it's okay to ask for help, that Mommy and Daddy will ALWAYS do our best to help you. We love you so much, and always will.

Love,

Your Mommy

A Year Ago. . .

I've been reminiscing and looking at old pictures and videos. It's hard to believe that just a year ago Tralee was a one-year-old! It's also hard to believe that just a year ago this was happening:



Now I have a chubby little baby boy sitting on my lap as I type this.

It all happened in one year! CRAZY!

Please Help!!

Jim and I have an ongoing debate on who should deal with spider killing and mouse trap upkeep in our country house.

One of us (I think you know) thinks it's the husband's job.

The other one (again, I'm sure you can guess who) believes it's the wife's duty.

We decided to post a poll on our blog and let the findings settle our disagreement. Please be honest and don't vote just so you think it will help Jim or me. I'll describe our dilemma in greater detail after the poll is over. I don't want to do it now, as it might skew the answers in a certain direction.

Jim and I would really appreciate your input, so we can settle this debate for once and for all. This could possibly help our marriage for years to come. So do your part, vote today!!!

Thanks!!

Our Little Chunk of Love

We call this little dude a lot of things:

Lil' Hunt
Booboo
Hunty
Hunty-boo
Hunt
Hunty-Bunty
Chunky Monkey
Lil' Chunk
Chunkers
Chunk o' Love

The last few nick-names pretty much sums Hunter up best. You see, I took Hunter in for his four month checkup and here are his stats:

Weight: 17 lbs 6 oz 90%
Height: 26.25 inches 90%

Yup, he's a solid chunk o' love and we love it!

Hooray!

Tralee peed in her potty for the first time today! We're making progress people. It's slow, but any progress is good with my head strong little girl.

Holy Crap

My legs hurt. My little walking/running group and I have started doing strength training videos every other day. We walk/run the alternate days. Anywho. . . yesterday we did one of those p90X workouts for our arms and legs and o-boy do I feel it today. I can hardly walk. I still woke up early to walk, but it about killed me. I somehow powered through, and after my muscles warmed up it didn't feel so bad.

The thing is, this all feels really good. . . in a painful way. I know my body (hopefully) will thank me in a few months by allowing me to fit back into my favorite dress I haven't worn in I won't say how long. I'm so grateful for my fellow exercise partners. For without them, I think I would lay in bed every morning until the kids forced me to get up. The other positive that cancels out how sore I am, is how proud Jim is of me. He tells me all the time. It makes me feel good.

Now I have to go tend to my crying baby. . . that is if I can stand up.

Labor Day Hike

We decided to hike to the little waterfall on Monday. It was a nice day for a little family hike. Here are some pics:

I love it when Daddies wear the baby carrier.

Not too sure what's happening here. I think my finger prematurely hit the button to take the picture.

There we go.

At the waterfall. She's pointing at someone's "goggy." Do you see the necklace Tralee's wearing? It's mine. She won't let me take it off. She's been wearing it for four days.

Waiting for Daddy to get ready to do a little fishin'

Smiling at the doggy.

This is the first time Jim and Hunter fished together. Special.

Tralee wanted to fish too


It was a fun Labor Day.
How was yours?

Dress Up

Tralee has just started playing dress up. She wants to try on almost anything. If she's not dressing herself, then she's just running around naked. Seriously. I either can't keep clothes on her, or I can't get her out of something. The other day it was ninety degrees and she wanted her flannel pj's on. I think my favorite outfit she came up with was this:


Two of my necklaces, a shirt fashioned around her waist, and a winter hat on her head. She looked kind of gangsta to Jim and me.


One Sunday after church Tralee got into Jim's ties. She must have seen him putting one on earlier and wanted in on the fun. I think she managed to wrap every one of Jim's ties around herself.


I'm just throwing this last picture into the mix because I want to. It has nothing to do with dressing up. Look at how cute my kids are sleeping next to each other. I was feeding Hunter in bed one night, and Tralee crawled in and fell asleep. After Hunter fell asleep I couldn't help but take this picture before each baby was placed in their respective beds.

Midnight Snack?

I made these from scratch the other night:



They were chocolate puff pastries with whipped chocolate cream filling, and dark chocolate ganache topping. I'm not a chocolate lover, but these were pretty darn good.

Just imagine yourself getting up for a snack. You wander into the kitchen, open the fridge, and this is staring you in the face:

What would you do?

Jim, Tralee, and I dove right in with recklessness. One time I wandered into the kitchen and found Tralee sitting at the table with three of these in front of her. She had licked off all ganache and had a face covered in chocolate. When she realized she got caught, all she did was look up at me, rub her tummy, and say, "Mmmmmm." I couldn't get too mad at her because I'm sure she was just indulging the same way she saw Jim and I do it.

After these babies were consumed I kicked up my daily walks to jogging and walking intervals. Later when I asked Jim, "I've stepped up my workouts, but I still haven't lost anything." His only response was, "chocolate eclairs" with a sorry-babe-they-got-to-you look on his face. Yup. Those darned eclairs must have canceled out any calories I burned on my daily jaunts. So, as good as those little devils were, I don't think I'll be making them again anytime soon. They were far too addictive.

That being said, I highly recommend them to any chocoholics out there.