Tunnel Play

Jack and Charlie have started to play together really well. Sometimes it makes me nervous b/c they can be so rough, but they love it. Boys! One thing they love to do is play in this tunnel. They'll chase each other and Jack will throw things in the tunnel for Charlie to go after or while he is in there. Here is a pic of Charlie during this playtime. Do you think he is having fun? Notice the 5th tooth coming in on the bottom.

Charlie chasing Jack

Look how tight his shirt is. Is it b/c he is growing? NO! His face says "Ah, help me!"
His brother is trying to drag him out.

Jack is so proud of his new Thomas the Train t-shirt. Thanks Teresa! Maybe I'm boasting, but we sure do have cute kids.

The Zoo

Last weekend we took a mini-vacation to Little Rock. We stayed in a hotel that had an indoor pool and swam on Friday. Then on Sat, we went to the zoo. Here is a picture of Charlie and Jack on the drive up there.

And this is Jack on the return drive. If I had taken a picture of Charlie, all you could have seen was the top of his head, he fell asleep before we left the zoo parking lot. And Jack was out no less than 5 minutes later. They were exhausted! But they had a good time!

Jack enjoying breakfast in bed at the hotel.


The zoo had a 30 min show w/ a singing hostess (the red haired lady you see in the background) and this tree frog. It seemed that the boys enjoyed the show, although they didn't participate in any of the songs. I asked Jack if he wanted to take a picture with the frog and he said yes. However, he was less than thrilled when he actually got close.


Do they look like they are having a good time? Maybe a little tired.

The day we visited the zoo, the bears were celebrating their birthdays. Jack got to view one bear eating his cake from his daddy's shoulders. There was quite a crowd.

When we asked Jack what his favorite part about the zoo was, he said "The choo-choo train and tiger." We weren't able to photograph the tigers, but we did get the train ride. Here we are waiting for the train ride to start.

I think that's an orangutan up there. It was huge!

Random Shots of the boys

Mark went out of town for a week, attending a conference in TN. The boys missed him a lot, especially Jack. Mark returned after Jack had gone to bed, so it was a suprise to find daddy home the next morning. This is a snapshot of that morning. Precious!

Bath-time around here is wild! I much prefer Mark to give them a bath here lately - they are so rough!


We had a beautiful winter day back in the beginning of March, so we went to the park.

Could they grow any faster?!

These two boys are growing so fast! Here is a glimpse of what we've been up to lately. This is Charlie in the baby bathtub, and it was probably his last time to use it. He and Jack often take their baths together now and have too much fun! Its really fun to see them enjoying one another and making each other laugh. One cold, rainy day I had to find something for Jack to do. So, we made an indoor sandbox using cornmeal. It was a winner! He played in it for hours several days in a row. And he didn't make much of a mess; I think he is very tidy for a 2 1/2 yr old boy.
Mark and his dad putting the finishing touches on the house before the appraiser came to inspect. They worked so hard!



I thought this was a funny picture of Mark inside the kitchen cabinets, hanging the last door.

My parents came to visit this weekend and the boys loved it. Jack calls them "dad" and "mom" (probably b/c he hears me call them that) and sometimes throws "grand" in front of it.

Jack has been eating a lot lately; he must be going through a growth spurt. Not to mention, his pants are getting shorter.

Charlie's appetite has picked up too. After he had finished his meal, he stared me down while I was eating an apple. I handed it over to him and this was his reaction. He was very excited!

An up-close crop of above picture. Too good to miss!

Taunting me w/ my unfinished apple.

Down to business. Don't worry, he didn't bite off any big chunks of the apple. He mostly licked it.

Some good friends of ours gave Jack their daughters' drum set. He loves it! Mark says its the gift that keeps on giving :). Thanks Emma and Samantha!

Aren't they handsome?!

Charlie's two teeth smile!


Family Christmas photo

I realize its been a month and half since my last post. Sorry! And I can't figure out how to get rid of the underline, so bear with me. We have been busy with everything from potty training to construction on our house to a 2 year old's strong will to a trip to Texas. The first three pics are from Thanksgiving in Mt.Pleasant.

This is Jack and one of his cousins.

Boys of all ages enjoy playing in the dirt! Mark and Jack digging away in good Texas soil.

I decided to have an at home photo shoot of the boys. The two year old has a hard time sitting still for more than a second, so a photo in focus was hard to aquire. I've posted my best efforts. And in the end, I bribed him to endure more flash photography with popcorn. The 8 month old was more compliant.

Our sweet Christmas present! He has a very adorable two teeth smile!

Yummy!

Somefin's cookin'

Thats how Jack says something and cooking, although he doesn't say it together. He doesn't yet pronounce the "g" in "ing" and "th" sounds like an "f". And "v" sounds like an "m". This is Jack counting, "two, fee, fime, six, semmen" He skips saying one but when counting objects he counts the object but doesn't start saying the numbers until the second object. He also skips four and stops at seven or just jumps to ten. Jack is a good helper in the kitchen. His job is pouring things in the bowl and stirring. He really does a good job! Here he is making "healthified" Chocolate Cupcakes from the Sneaky Chef cookbook.

Charlie is starting to sit up on his own and he started solid foods recently. He is such a happy baby! He has a little rash that I had to call the doctor about today, so while I was waiting for the nurse to call me back, she suggested I let it air out. I had just changed a wet diaper so I thought I was safe. Oh no. We were sitting on Jack's bed b/c he had just woken up from a nap when Charlie unloaded on me and the bed. It was everywhere! Thankfully, Jack helped by going to get some wipes so I could get up w/out getting poop everywhere. So, we're trying a fungal cream on the rash. I hope it works b/c it seems to itch.

Jack has reached a few milestones recently. He is now sleeping in a twin size bed and he no longer uses a pacifier, which was only used at bedtime and naptime anyway. Its been a long time coming but we weren't really sure how to take it away. Well, yesterday after he woke up in the morning, we couldn't find it. We looked everywhere to no avail. So, when he asks about it, we simply say we looked and couldn't find it. He seems satisfied w/ that.