Splish! Splash!

We got brave tonight. We put both boys, that's right BOTH boys into the tub at the same time for baths tonight. It was great fun. They both had huge smiles and enjoyed splashing each other (well Zeke splashed Deacon and Deacon just kind of splashed). Here's a picture from the big event. We'll have to work on getting one where they're both looking and maybe even smiling. That might take a few years though. Until then, this will do just fine. Heehee!

Daddy's Home!!

That's right, Josh arrived from Iraq today! We are so thrilled. He landed in Germany around eight this morning, and we were able to get him and bring him home around one thirty this afternoon. Oh it was so sweet. The welcome home ceremony was nice and short. It took Zeke a few minutes to realize it was Daddy holding him, but once he did, he was all smiles. And once we got home, he opened right up and the two of them played together all night (except for when Zeke was napping). Deacon's been all smiles too despite very little nap time all day. He did kind of freak out when everyone at the ceremony started cheering and yelling and clapping - that did not make him happy at all. But once we got home and he got some food, he was as sweet as ever. And that's really all for now. Thank you everyone for your prayers while he was gone. We really do appreciate them. Until next time!

I'm thoroughly enjoying my boys

So I got a package in the mail the other day and it was packed with packing peanuts. What else, right? I was working on getting some dinner together and Zeke was being a little bit of a nudge (not completely unexpected), and wanting to keep him busy for a few minutes while I finished dinner, I pulled out the box of packing peanuts. I didn't fully know what would happen, but boy did we have fun! Styrofoam peanuts were everywhere! (I'm still working on cleaning them all up two days later.) Zeke and I - that's right, I joined in the festivities after we finished eating dinner - ran through them, we rolled in them, we took turns dumping them on each other and throwing them at each other. It was kind of sad when we had to end our fun because Deacon had to get up and eat. Spoil sport.

And speaking of Deacon, Tiny Man had his four month well baby appointment yesterday and it went really well. Among the many compliments the pediatrician poured on him were, "You win the 'Cutie Patootie of the Day Award'", and "Did you have any work done on his belly button? It's absolutely perfect." Which made us both laugh. She goes, "I'm sure that's just the compliment you wanted to hear." But he weighed in at 14 1/2 pounds and 25 1/4 inches. He is right at the 50% for everything - a perfect baby says the doctor. I think so too. And not that I'm comparing kids, but I do find these things interesting. Deacon weights two pounds more than Zeke did at this appointment and is an inch shorter than Zeke was. Well, that's all the news for now. Just wanted to share on this occasionally sunny morning!

Backfire!

So, I've been getting a little frustrated lately with Zeke's lack of vocabulary (at least his lack of willingness to use his vocabulary), so I thought teaching him some sign language would be a good idea. The only problem with this is that he never sits still long enough for me to "teach" him anything, so we were getting no where with signs (except for "all done"...we have definitely mastered that one - we're "all done" eating, we're "all done" playing in his room, we're "all done" with Mommy sitting on the couch knitting, etc). Thus came the brilliant idea to borrow the library's copy of Baby Einstein's "My First Signs" to see how that would go - the idea being that essentially only TV can truly get him to sit still for more than two minutes so maybe he'd absorb something from that show (plus, I only know three signs myself). Well, he's definitely absorbing something because whenever I try and use one of the signs from the show his response is always to run to the TV and start crying until I play the video. Maybe I should have gotten a book instead. To illustrate his intense viewing of this show (and of the Backyardigans), and his new TV watching position, I've posted two pictures as well. He's just too much sometimes!

Yummy!

So I gave Deacon his first taste of rice cereal this morning, and I have to say, it went way better than I thought it would. He actually ate five spoonfuls (obviously with a very small spoon) before he started spitting it back out, and he never really screwed up his face in utter disgust. In fact, the face he's making in the picture is about as "funny" as it got. I must admit, that was a little disappointing, but I guess with something as bland as rice cereal you can't really hope for too much more. Oh, and how talented am I to be able to feed him and take his picture at the same time? Mother of the Year Award, here I come! Okay, maybe not, but I am impressed with my own multi-tasking skills (does a hyphen really go in there?). Okay, Zman needs to get up, so I need to go. Just wanted to post this right quick, and let you all know Deacon's working on his first set of teeth. Isn't four months a little young for that? Zeke was eight months old when he got his first teeth. I have a feeling this little one is going to develop and grow way faster than Zeke did. After all, if he's ever going to be able to hang out with Zeke he has a lot of catching up to do! Great.

"If you like to waltz with potatoes..."

...have I got two sweet vegetables for you! Here are pictures of the boys in their Halloween costumes. Zeke was Bob the Tomato and Deacon was Jean Claude Pea (both are from VeggieTales for those of you who aren't familiar with those characters or that wonderful show). A big thank you goes out to Grandma Walter who made these adorable costumes for the boys. They were a big hit at Harvestfest, which I took the boys to...after all, you can't get all dressed up in such adorable costumes and then just sit at home! It was a fun night, crazy, but fun. We hope everyone else enjoyed their Halloweens and had a fun, safe night. Now we're just counting down the days until Daddy gets home sometime this month!