happy 6 month birthday, peter!

A day or so after we brought Peter home from the hospital, I remember thinking how crazy it was that we were starting all over again with another baby.  All the milestones, all over again.  I distinctly remember thinking how we would have to start feeding Peter solids, and as I held my three day old, I just knew there was no way that day would ever come – six months is just too old.

But much to my disbelief, this little guy is now half-way to turning one!  And can I just indulge myself in a little Mommy Gushing for a brief second?

I am absolutely, positively nuts over this kid. He turns me into a giant puddle of mush. He is such a distraction.  I will be washing the dishes while he watches from his highchair, and the next thing I know, he has me dancing on my head and talking in the most ridiculous voices just to get a laugh out of him.  I love him more than I ever thought possible.

Some things for us to remember about our Peter at six months…

• Peter is 27.6 inches long (80th %), 17.12 lbs (45th %), and his head measures 45.6 inches (88th%)
• We started Peter on solids.  We skipped right over the cereals and went straight to avocado and banana.  Next up is sweet potato and winter squash. We also started him on a few Puffs to practice grasping.
• He is a very active baby.  Changing his diaper feels like a 15-minute workout, it’s like a wrestling match and we usually lose.
• He rolls and rolls and rolls. Backwards and forwards, all over the living room floor.
• He loves to prop up on all fours and rock back and forth, he is so close to crawling and has been scooting backwards for a week or so.
• He has been enjoying his crib more and more.
• He prefers to be standing or bouncing all of the time, which makes his walker very helpful.
• His pediatrician said that he is very strong and very, very busy, her exact words were, “He’s gonna want to see the world!”
• His reflux has improved by leaps and bounds and he’s no longer on medication.
• He loves to bury his little head in our neck and snuggle.
• He is extremely ticklish, a trait we take full advantage of!
• He dropped his third nap and now takes two two-hour naps a day and is in bed by 6:30 pm.
• His personality is very laid back and joyful, but when he really wants something- everyone knows about it.
• His favorite person in the world right now is his big brother.  Watching them laugh and play together makes me stop whatever I’m doing, no matter how important, and just watch them. It’s the best.

Happy 6 months, baby boy!  You are among one of the greatest gifts God has ever given to us.

the life-changing power of cheerios

Tonight was so unexpected.

Both boys are sick, so only Joe was able to go to church tonight.  I spent a portion of the evening converting one of our kitchen doors into a chalkboard.  While I was painting, Sam and Peter were Skyping with my mom to keep them busy while I finished up.  When they said their goodbyes, Sam entered into one of his I Miss My Family funks that he’s been having ever since we left Texas.

So, I did what any reasonable mother who had just spent the last hour sniffing paint would do: I put him straight into the bathtub with some animals and a bowl of Cheerios (sometimes we all need a little help getting out of our moods, don’t we?)  I know it might sound crazy, but he loved it.  Funk gone, happy child returned, we all won.

The craziness continued after I put Peter to bed.  Not only did Cheerios cure the blues, but they turned Sam into a silly mess.  He was dancing around, completely nude if I might add, while I cleaned up the kitchen.

I thought now was as good a time as any to bring up potty training with him.  Last time I brought this subject up, I was 34 weeks pregnant and threw in the towel after just one day of trying.  However, he just returned from Texas after seeing his cousin successfully use the potty every day.  I’ve gotta use this to my advantage, right?  Afterall, he wants to be just like Colin when he grows up.

I’ve heard you shouldn’t bribe your kids to use the potty.  I’ve also heard you shouldn’t spank them.

Me: “Sam, I’ll give you a jelly belly if you go pee-pee on the potty!”

Sam: “Okay!”

(Sam runs off and brings his little potty into the kitchen)

Me: “Okay Sam, sit down and go pee-pee and I’ll give you a treat!”

Sam: “Like Colin?”

Me: “Yes! Like Colin!”

Two minutes pass…

Me: “You can do it, Sam!  Show Me The Pee-Pee!!”

Another minute passes…

Sam: “I did it! I did it! The pee-pee came out!”

Forget one jelly belly, I gave him the whole jar.

We danced. We hugged. We celebrated.  We called grandparents and cousins.  Everyone cheered.

Fifteen minutes passed and Sam said he had to go to the potty again.  This is to good to be true, I thought.  He is actually telling me that he needs to go potty.

Me: “Okay, Sam, let’s try to go on the BIG potty.”  (Shoot for the stars, right?)

Sam: (About to fall through the toilet seat) “I wanna get off!”

Me: “Okay, let’s try standing on the stool”

Sam: (Looking at me like I’ve completely lost my mind)

Me: “Oh wait, I’ll be right back!”

….

Sam: “What you got, Momma?”

Me: “Okay Sam, do you see these Cheerios, I want you to point and aim at the Cheerios!”

Sam: (Looking at me like I’m the most amazing mom EVER) “Look they’re floating!”

Me: “Yes Sam, they’re floating! Okay- I want you to pee-pee and try to aim for the Cheerios, You can do it!”

….

The moments following were some of the funniest and most proud moments I’ve had since becoming a mom.  Sam was not only successful, but so proud of himself.  We cheered so loud we almost woke Peter up.

The best part of all?  Joe had come home without us hearing.  When we turned around, he was standing in the hall…witnessing the entire thing.

Before bed, Sam asked if he could practice aiming at Peter’s Puffs tomorrow.  You know, the pricey, organic ones.

Me: “No Sam, Puffs are not for peeing on. Only Cheerios.”

You gotta draw the line somewhere.

fireplace face-lift

When Joe and I bought our home a year and a half ago, we fell in love with the old 1920′s charm of our little bungalow. If you would have seen it with your own eyes, though, you would have thought we were crazy for wanting to make this house our home. It needed so much renovation that my head starts to spin thinking about the work we poured into it. Beneath all the purple, red, and coral paint, blue carpet, and Hawaiian wallpaper, however, we saw incredible potential.

Perhaps one of the biggest eye sores in our home was the fireplace. It was purple, completely filthy, and had six large pieces of tile set back into the brick. Just bizarre. The running joke was that there must be millions of dollars stashed away behind the tile, because why else would you design a fireplace to look like this…

Perhaps the largest project in our home renovation was turning our basement into a fully furnished apartment so that we could provide housing to three BCS students. In the past two years, we have had six of Joe’s students live with us, and from time to time we joke around with them about which one we like best. This year’s Favorite goes to Sam. Not our son, but “Big Sam” as our toddler likes to call him.

And here’s why…

Before we left for Texas, I was talking with Sam about how we’ve wanted to do something with the fireplace ever since we bought our house. We once got an estimate for a new fireplace cover, but weren’t willing (or able) to spend the $900.00 price tag.

Whenever I’m in a Do-It-Yourself mood, I hop on over to The Lettered Cottage for some inspiration. I met Layla a few years ago at Minnesota’s Junk Bonanza and have perused her blog ever since. When we got our estimate, I knew I had to come up with something else and remembered a particular post where Layla shared her $82.00 fireplace makeover.

I passed this idea onto Sam, and while we were vacationing in Texas, he went to work. He did an incredible job, and so did Joe, Ryan, James, and Ben, who lent a helping hand towards the end.

We are planning to change the mantle to a wider more distressed piece of wood, but for now, we are just going to keep the original. I’m so pleased with how it all turned out.

Now, time to decorate the mantle! I guess we’ll never know what’s behind those tile pieces.

homesick

I carried this picture in my mind as our plane landed in Minnesota earlier today.  It was my first time flying alone with both boys, and if I wasn’t convinced of the Lord’s kindness towards me before, I am now. Both boys slept almost the entire trip.  It’s as if He knew I was especially sad today.

I’m also convinced of the Lord’s sense of humor when I, myself, awoke from a brief nap to find my toddler hovering over me and laughing.  It just so happens that while I was asleep, my eldest managed to acquire a set of Southwest Airlines wings and apply them ever so gently to my upper lip.  I was hoping it was just a dream when I heard Sam loudly exclaim, “Look, Momma, it’s a mustache!”

No matter how much time passes, leaving home never gets easier.  A place where families love us so incredibly well.  Where there are friendships so deep in my heart that I physically ache to be away from them.  Where little cousins are becoming the closest of friends.  Where there’s a mother, who after all these years, still snuggles with me on the couch.  And most importantly, Chick-fil-A.

I have no room to complain, though.  I returned to another home today, sweet in some of the very same ways.  A beautiful city filled with a church, neighborhood, and people that we love immensely, and with a peace that we are exactly where the Lord wants us to be.

On days like today, however, I resonate with the young boy in the 1994 Caldecott winner, Grandfather’s Journey,

“…But I also miss the mountains and rivers of my childhood.  I miss my old friends.  So I return now and then, when I can not still the longing in my heart.

The funny thing is, the moment I am in one country, I am homesick for the other.”

Toddler vs. Wild

A rainy day in Texas afforded us the chance to break out the kid’s new raincoats and boots that Papa and Sassy gave them for Christmas.  After one of the longest droughts in Texas history, days like this are celebrated, and that’s exactly what these three little tots did.

galveston, grandparents, and grandbabies…

Last week we headed to Galveston with my parents to have dinner, visit the strand, and take some pictures of Papa and Sassy with their four grandbabies.  It was quite the feat to get a picture of four children ages three and under to sit still and smile, especially when three of those children can outrun all of us.  Nothing a little candy (and my husband’s crazy dancing) couldn’t fix, though!

like a kid in a candy store

Our time in Texas is coming to a close and we’ll soon be on our way back to below freezing temperatures.  Against all appearances, it truly wasn’t our goal to visit every cupcake establishment in Houston, but the kids definitely didn’t mind!  This time it was a little place called Rise Cupcakes in Friendswood.  Getting to see the floor to ceiling wall of candy-filled apothecary jars made the sugar overload meltdowns almost worth the visit!

photo shoot :: the crowell family

I had the joy of taking family pictures the other day for my best friend, Becky, her husband, Kyle, along with their adorable son, Bennett.  Becky’s mom, Diane (or Mama B), also came along to have a few pictures taken with her sweet grandson.  Here are a few of my favorites…

curls

My beautiful niece, Rylee Jordan, and her lovely little locks…

cupcakes and cousins

Melinda and I, along with my mom, took all the cousins to a fun little cupcake shop called, Crave Cupcake in Houston this morning.  We did it in the order I like best, dessert first and then lunch at Chipotle.  It’s becoming a little tradition for our family to take the cousins out for a special treat while I snap some pictures of them doing what they do best- looking cute and being silly together.  Last visit was donuts, this time it was cupcakes.  I’m hoping this summer we can make a little trip with everyone to visit the Blue Bell Ice Cream factory in Brenham, TX.

It was a fun and crazy time all around.  The kids loved the cupcakes, and I’m sure the Crave employees loved it when we left. (We bought a dozen cupcakes to apologize for any ruckus we might have caused!)