Kickin Coco

Tonight Coco let Paige "kick" him in the face from her spot in the swing.

He was very dramatic, and she might have laughed harder than I've ever seen her.

Paige made this awesome stack of creatures today, and then yelled "TADA!"

As for Cason, today the food he chose to sneak a bite of was Ritz crackers. He shoved 2 in his mouth at once, and then grabbed a few more to hold on to while he tried to eat these ones. So then I made an awesome and responsible decision and had my sister hold him so I could grab the camera, since the crackers SEEMED to be mostly hanging OUT of his mouth. But then he started gagging while I TOOK PICTURES. Fortunately he lived.

And Another

Birthday, that is. My step-mom Trudi! Trudi is probably the best step-mom there's ever been. She also gave me my fifth sibling, Colton. Or Coco. Trudi is sweet, loving, and smart. She's also a wonderful (and young) Grama to Paige and Cason. She's also a great teacher. (Technically she's a principal now, but she still has the skills.) When Paige was a mere babe, she taught her to sign "more" in like 5 minutes. (That's another thing about Trudi, she knows sign language. Not just "teach a baby 4 or 5 signs" sign language, but SIGN LANGUAGE.) Paige learned it that quickly with Trudi teaching her, and never forgot it. I could practice with her for a straight week, and MAYBE teach her what Trudi could in minutes. Impressive.

Trudi's been a perfect fit for our family from the start. My dad loves her, and so do the rest of us. Happy birthday Trudi!


(Your present is in the works)

(Don't get excited...I'm making it)

Happy Birthday Uncle Randy!

Today was my Uncle Randy's birthday! I don't think he reads my blog, but just in case, happy birthday! Randy is hilarious, and a man of MANY talents. Apparently, if he decides to do something, he just needs a book, and he's an instant expert. His newest hobby is woodworking, and my aunt Mindy (his wife) recently emailed me some pictures of the BEAUTIFUL bird houses he made for her. I want them badly. But of course I instantly lost track of those pictures, and can't post any here. But trust me, they were awesome. Speaking of me not having pictures, this is the only one I can find of him. Ha.

But just understand that he's a cool fella. Happy Birthday Randy.

Faces Shoot

Reading Lily's funny faces post reminded me I hadn't gotten any pictures of Paige's faces yet. So we had a little early morning faces photo shoot.
Mad:

Happy:

Sad:

Surprised:

Silly:

Scared:

Here's Cason yesterday, after he snuck a taste of one of Paige's Apple Jacks. He approved.

And today, doing situps in his swing during Paige's faces photo shoot.

This morning Jess and his dad worked on putting some grass seed down in the back yard. So the babies, Gia, and I went for a walk. As always, Paige was the most hilarious thing on earth to Cason.

Tea Pawdee

We've been having lots of them. Paige serves you tea (water) and a meal (usually plastic grapes or a whole plastic turkey). Then she says a prayer, thanking God for her family. Usually it's just "Cason, Amen." But sometimes she lists all kinds of relatives.

Speaking of prayers, Jess was saying one with her during THEIR tea party last night, and they were listing family members again. Jess said "Aunt Ducky", a nickname for Veronica, but she only hears it once in a while. So she goes "Ducky, Cows, Cowboys, Amen". Haha. Where would we be without those cowboys?

Here she is having a "tea pawdee" with Uncle Matt, who just finished working out his biceps, and could barely hold his cup without the water sloshing out, his hands were shaking so much. Haha. I also like how proper Matthew is, pinky out and all.

Yes, most tea parties happen sans clothing.

Dwaw!

Tonight we had a bible study with Grammy and Grampy. But first Jess and his dad made some plans for grass in our yard, while Paige and Grammy were horses, galloping all over the place. Then she made them each take a turn at the magnadoodle. Which means she yells out things for you to draw, and usually thinks of something better when you're about 2/3 of the way through drawing it. So then she erases what you're working on and excitedly yells out something new. Usually "Naraffes!" "Elfents!" and "Sharks!" Then when you finally are allowed to finish an animal, you have to draw it's baby. There's always a baby.

He Yelled At Me

THIS cute, sweet little boy yelled at me for the first time today. He's a screamer, mostly for fun. But once in a while he'll do it if you take something from him, or if he drops something. It's usually just a really short, angry scream, and then he's fine.

Today Paige was looking through the dvd case for Ducktales, and Cason started grabbing at the pages. I sat him up so he couldn't reach them and tear them out.

He was SO mad. He balled up his fists and tightened every muscle in his little body. Then he looked me in the eyes and screamed in my face. His anger was so clearly directed AT ME personally, that it actually hurt my feelings a little. Haha. I think he'll be a door slammer like his sister.

But he gets over it quickly, and then he loves me again.

High Heels and Abs

My brother Matt is home on a break, from chiropractic school. So this morning he hung out for a while, and made me do an ab workout with him. Our preferred workout is the Firm 5 Day Abs, from like 1985. The guy in the video wears tapered sweatpants. Anyway, Cason dug around in the toy basket, which kept HIM occupied long enough for me to get destroyed. (I haven't done anything strenuous since childbirth, and nothing for months before that.)


Paige, however, desperately wanted to leave the house, and go see Alex. So she was trying to get us ready to go. She brought me some shoes, and put them on me. Then she ran out of the room, and brought back a high heeled shoe for Matt.

He wore it a while, and kicked it off when he thought she wasn't watching. But then he received a new mismatched pair to wear.
Like a good uncle, he wore them with a smile.

Smelly Cups

Our productivity has been waning. But we did go downtown the last couple days to the antique stores. We scored this awesome little ice cream parlor looking chair for Paige's room for 5 bucks.

This awesome rocking chair.

This cute one in a smaller size for the kids. I haven't decided what color to paint it, but it will be painted soon.

This cute hanging spice rack thing.

AND while we were downtown we saw one of the bail bonds buildings. The window had their name, and their slogan: "Because jail sucks." Wow.

Anyway, as of this morning Cason has a second tooth on top, giving him a total of 4, and he knows how to put them to use.

Also this morning, a group of neighborhood kids came to our door selling "Smelly Cups". Haha. They looked like a bunch of weeds that they'd put in a basket. They told us for a dollar, we could have some, and if we put it in a cup of water they would smell like the ocean. We donated a dollar, but decided not to take one of the "Smelly Cups".

Now I leave you with a picture of Cason's fat legs in motion.

Clearly I Have the Greenest of Thumbs

The few plants I have that look healthy, Paige likes to rip apart one leaf at a time. Haha. I had some little seedlings in the house, and she kept kneeling down to look at them, saying "so cuuuuuuuute!" in the same voice she uses for Cason. Then one day they were gone, uprooted and discarded when we weren't looking I assume. She also did a number on a bell pepper plant today, and Jess and I told her not to pull on the leaves. So she got a little upset with us, mostly me, and wanted to be alone for a while. After a few minutes she and Jess talked it over.

And all was well. I even got a makeup hug a second after this one.

Elephant Sprinkler

More yard work, a little by me, but mostly by Jess.

Meanwhile, the boy had fun in the walker. Although his feet don't reach the ground in it yet, so it's more of a floater.

But he still likes it. A LOT.

He also worked hard at perfecting his motorboat sounds.

Lily, Paige, and Gia had a ton of fun with Paige's elephant sprinkler today.



Paige used a sand bucket as a purse.

She's also been putting on this cowgirl hat she got from Veronica, and calls herself Catinahat, because Cat in the Hat is her favorite book right now. Or maybe just because she usually has whiskers while wearing it. Who knows.

Then we played one of Paige's favorite outdoor games: You help her walk along this wall, and when you get to the end, she says "DIS way" in a high pitched voice. Then Cason laughs really hard at the way she says it, while you help her turn around to go in the other direction, and repeat.

Heaven on Earth Day

Paige:
Played in her sandbox for probably over an hour and a half.

Posed for some amazing shots in these gigantic Nicole Richie shades.


Scored this awesome "Naraffe" for a buck, and spent hours with him. She tucked him in with her, and told him "sweet dreeeeeeeeams."

Cason:
Got his third tooth.

Said "mama". He has been saying it for a while, just to make the sound I think. But today he kept saying it while looking directly at me, and seemed like he really wanted my attention. So I'm counting it, and I loooove it.

Took a LOOOONG nap on my belly on the porch swing.

It was awesome. I got to lie there and feel his little breaths go in and out, and listen to my new wind chime my Jess got for me, and watch the flowers, and Paige coming in and out of the house with her "dwink" and her ritz crackers. Then she got up with us for a while, resting her head on what she thought was my belly. Eventually though, she realized her pillow was actually Cason's ample little booty.

And on top of it all, Jess was home.

Then we finished off our perfect day with an orange layer cake with chocolate frosting.