Jameson 1, Bully 0

Every parent has a slightly different take on all the responsibilities of raising children. For James and me, we think part of our job is finding a balance between raising children that are kind and compassionate but also know how to defend themselves.  The story Jameson came home to share with us put me at ease a bit that at least he's going to stick up for himself.

Jameson loves to read, and he is often reading while waiting in the car rider line.  On this particular day, he found himself a comfy place on a bench and began reading.  Here is the story as relayed by Jameson:

Jameson [minding his own business sitting on a bench]

Bully [stares down at Jameson waiting for him to move]: Get out of my seat.

Jameson: No, I was here first.  You can't just tell me to move because you're bigger.

Bully [speechless, likely not sure how to respond to confident 1st grader he can't push around]

The bully walks away and doesn't bother Jameson again.

Yup - that's it.  Nothing major, no major battle just a 1st grade version of "don't f@$k with me, kid".  That's my little guy.  Keep sticking up for the little guys, Jameson!

This post was originally written when Jameson was in 1st grade and never posted it.  I finally had the urge to blog again, and he's a big 3rd grader now.  Hopefully, he's still looking out for the little guys.

So What If It's Not Father's Day

After a long blogging hiatus, I needed something like Father's Day to pull me out of my rut. Sadly, I missed the actual date, but I am still compelled to write my "Father's Day" post. After all, there's no reason we can't celebrate Father's Day any day of the year.

In this household, I am the one that fails to plan for birthdays, anniversaries, or any other special occasion. James is far better in this department, and the kids know it. Apparently, Father's Day deserves more hype than I planned. Jameson told me on Saturday (our chosen day to celebrate) that 'Dad gets to sleep late and eat breakfast in bed'. I told him that we were making cards, and he told me, "We have to make more plans than that". Like I said, I usually fall short in special event planning. Jameson was right. Our family owes James more than that, but James was happy to sleep in until 10:30 and eat a cold bacon, egg, & cheese biscuit in bed. The beauty of men is that they are simple creatures.

Well, I might have missed the actual day, but that does not make James's role in our family any less special any other day. Every day I come home to happy, healthy children (and maybe a cooked dinner) is another day I am thankful for everything he does for us. I know the children concur.

They each have their special bond with their dad, and it's always cute, sometimes even funny, to see it in action. For instance, one of Amelia's favorite rituals is to ask to hold his finger whenever we're in the car. Yes, it sounds ridiculous, and it is, but it's still kind of cute. I am not sure how this strange request ever came up, but I am sure one day she will laugh when I tell her that story.

Jameson's favorite pastime with Dad is definitely video games, specifically Mario Galaxy (or the more recently released Mario Galaxy 2). Strangely, Jameson doesn't even care to play so much as he does to WATCH James play. I'm not sure why or how it works, but Jameson loves to have some video game time with dad.

Truman's favorite time with Dad is just about any one-on-one time he can get. Truman is so good at independent play and is so low-maintenance (usually) that it's easy to just let him do his thing. He's happy to play on his own, but he loves it when James roughhouses with him. He will squeal in delight and his legs buckle when he's laughing hard, startled, or excited. Truman loves to curl up on the couch with Dad, his cup of milk, and a good cartoon.

Darwin is the latest addition to this rowdy bunch. He's no longer happy to sit back and watch all the fun, so he is demanding to get down and do what the other kids are doing. Like all those before him, Darwin is a big fan of Dad. I know James was happy to finally have one of our kids say "da da" before "ma ma".

Okay, so I'm a bit late with my "Father's Day" post, but is there ever really a bad time to say thanks, James, for being without question the best dad and husband possible? I don't think so.

The Roof Came Alive by Jameson

I have so many posts that have only really made it to draft form (15 to be exact) and for one reason or another I see them later and I am compelled to post them. I love this one inspired by a story from Jameson.

The Roof Came Alive by Jameson

Once there was a little boy who had a tiny little brother, and all his little brother liked to do was suck on his hands. So the little boy was very lonely and he wanted a friend. The mouse magician knew the little boy wanted a friend, so he did some magic one day and the roof came alive! Now the little boy had a friend. (originally drafted 1/20/2010)

He told this story shortly after Darwin was born when he was too little to do much but suck on his hands. It was one of those stories that kids come up with on the fly, but I love the "mouse magician" he pulled out of nowhere. I laughed as I re-read it, and I thought at least James would get a kick out of it.

Jameson Turns Four

On the day you were born, I had no idea how much you would change my life.

When you become a parent, you give up a lot of things but you gain far more. As I think back now about how it feels to become a parent, I would say it's as if you have suddenly gained a part of yourself that you never knew you were missing. From that day forward, you cannot imagine living without that piece of you, and sometimes you hardly remember your life without it.

We had a doula attend Darwin's birth, and during a conversation with her, we talked about having children. She was telling me about her five girls and how they ended up with five. She told me that after they had their 3rd, her husband was ready to stop, but she really felt that she wanted another. I asked her how she convinced him to have another, and she told me how she described to him how she had already envisioned her next daughter. She told him what she was going to be like, and about how much she would miss her if she was never born.

What struck me about this conversation was how she said she would miss her yet unborn daughter. Strangely enough, I knew exactly what she meant. People ask how we have the time or energy to have/make more children, and I struggle more with 'how could I refuse them?'. Today, Jameson, you turn four, and I can say with certainty, that my life would not be complete without you.

In the years since you were born, we have watched you learn and discover so many things about life, about your Mom and Dad, your family, and about yourself. You have become a big brother 3 times over, and I know this is your proudest accomplishment. This year, you gained a "sitting buddy" and proved you were absolutely right when you told us 'Baby Bob the Boy' was in Mom's belly.

This year you started "working on your patience", and I am so proud that you're learning to eat your vegetables. You told us that you were ready for school, so you Dad started your "lessons" at home. He's doing a wonderful job, and I love seeing some of your experiments (He's been working on his photography.).

You surprise me nearly every day with everything that you know and say. Some days you are so mature and grown-up that it's hard to believe you're only 3 (four now). Other days, we have to remind ourselves since we expect so much of you.

You are so much fun that conversations with you are truly an adventure. Some days I wonder and laugh about how you must come up with your stories and explanations about how or why things happen. One of Mom and Dad's favorite is your explanation of falling in love and getting married.

There is no question you are afraid to ask, and sometimes Mom and Dad have to be careful and creative about how we answer. We believe in always telling you the truth, so when you asked how Baby Bob was going to get out of my belly, I had to pause for a moment to figure out how to answer you. Lucky for me, you were satisfied with my honest, but not too graphic answer.

In the years since you came into our crazy family, you have taught me a lot about myself. Through you and in you, I have seen my greatest strengths and weaknesses. As you grow into a boy and someday into a man, my hope is that you remain that caring, thoughtful, sensitive, beautiful person that you are. You are a wonderful son and an amazing brother. I pray for many more happy, healthy years for you and our family, and I cherish all the years we have already shared. Truman, Amelia, and Baby Bob (Darwin) are so lucky that you are their role model, and they are already learning so much from you.

We all love you, and I hope you have a happy 4th birthday!

No Time

If you can believe it, I just finished up some work. Although working late at night has been rare while I've been pregnant, I used to be up at least one night a week until the wee hours working on some spreadsheet or another. The strange part is that I don't hate it. I will, however, hate getting up in a few hours.

I have been wanting to post an update of the kids since that's why I started this blog after all, but between, work, pregnancy, and the kids I don't know how anyone can find the time.

Without selling them too short, let me try to get this done in 5 minutes.

Jameson manages to make James and I laugh about something he does or says every day. He is full of words, and he says a lot of unexpected things. When I went to pick him up from school today, I looked in and saw him talking to one of the little girls, very involved in whatever he was telling her. Later tonight when I was giving him his bedtime snack, I asked him what he was talking to her about. He responds without diverting his attention from his cartoon, "I told her how I went swimming and drowned.". That was it - no more explanation. I laughed at his unexpected response, but I'm not sure why I was surprised. He is a lot of fun, and I love to see how he is a bit of his dad and a bit of me - makes for a funny combination.

Miss Amelia is Jameson-in-training. Interestingly, she is also full of words, although many of them incomprehensible at this point. Every morning she wakes up with usual call, "Dada, Dada, Dadaaaaa", and I think it helps James get out of bed when I tell him it's time to get up and get the babies. She is saying a handful of words, but she is great with communicating with hand signals and looks. She has a really expressive face, and she demands a lot of attention. I know I am going to have my hands full with this one, but the good thing is that she is going to tell me what she needs early. She is very affectionate, especially with her brothers and loves to give hugs and kisses.

Truman is developing a stronger personality lately, throwing fits when you try to feed him as he insists on feeding himself. He doesn't try to talk as much as Amelia, but he does have his own way of communicating. One day, we will have to record some of his "talk" since it's nothing like how Jameson and Amelia (so far) started to communicate. He is very sweet, loving, and ridiculously strong. He has been climbing everything in sight for months. I can barely carry him since he knows exactly how to twist his body when he wants to be put down. Considering that his head probably weights a good 5 lbs., he's not exactly easy to control. He is very mechanically-inclined that my dad might just get that engineer he's hope to get. He loves books, and he will study them for a long time, but he loves food and naptime even more. His temperament is like his dad's, which is both a good and bad thing. He is so laid-back most of the time, but he will, rarely, have an unexpected outburst for some unknown reason. Then I'm stuck trying to figure out if he's sick, or if he's just angry or frustrated. It's hard to tell since he doesn't do it very often.

I have a handful of pictures/videos from this weekend that I will sift through and post over the weekend, but we are having lots of fun with our kiddos. They are exhausting, and many days I think I may lose my mind. Those moments always pass though, and somehow it's so much easier to remember the good moments. It's easily been more than 10 minutes now, so I better get some sleep if I'm actually going to show up at work tomorrow.

Cutting the Cord

I am guilty of babying my kids. I figure they will only be babies once in their lives, so it's my one chance. I love to see them growing up, but I'm not anxious to see their time as babies end. Well, despite my efforts to slow him down, my biggest baby is getting more independent every day. At his request, we are trying another sleepover at grandma's tonight. Other than when the twins were born (when it was required), he has asked two other times to stay the night at my mom's house without either me or James also staying. Both times, I have had my parents give up and bring him back home by 2 a.m. It has been months since the last time he tried, so we have yet to see if he will be successful this time.

Tonight, he's with his grandma Claire on the promise of late night movies, waffles for breakfast, and a return trip home tomorrow. We had a showing on our house tonight, so we went over to James's parents' house to kill some time. We figured we would be returning around bedtime, so we got everyone ready before we left. Just before we were ready to leave, Jameson decided that he wanted to stay and watch movies instead of going home and going to bed (go figure). I tried to make sure he knew it meant he would be there without mom and dad, and we didn't want anyone to have to bring him home in the middle of the night. I'm still a little nervous, but I hope he makes it.

As much as I cherish him as my "baby", I also want to see him grow up to be confident and independent. I will miss not waking up to him tomorrow morning asking me to take him downstairs and get his chocolate milk, and he's only gone for one night. I can't imagine what I'm going to feel like when he tells me he want to go away to college.

Not Ready For This

Last night while getting Jameson to bed, he told me, "Mom, I don't wanna die.".  My heart broke a little, and I didn't really know what to say.  He continued with the following questions:

Am I going to die?

Why do I have to die?

Will the man that made me make me better so I can come back?

Are you going to die?

Is Dad going to die?

Who is going to be my Mom and Dad if you die?

Bombarded with these questions, I didn't really know how to answer.  I didn't want to lie to him, but I didn't want to scare him either.  I did my best to reassure him, but he just wanted to hear me say that none of us would die.  I couldn't do that, so he started crying in the middle of his questioning because I think he sensed my inability to fully reassure him.

"Yes, we're going to die, but hopefully not for a long time.  Honey, I can't promise you that I'm not going to die, but hopefully Momma will be around until you're a big man and you have your own kids.  I'm sorry I don't know all the answers to your questions, but no one really knows."  I felt myself sinking.  He persisted, and I couldn't help but cry as I empathized with his sadness and fear.  I called James in the room, and I'm not sure he did any better.

Wow, I was not prepared for these questions or these emotions yet.  He's only 3, and I guess I didn't think the fear of death would enter his mind until he was a lot older.  I was wrong.  Tonight, he told me he didn't want to die because he was scared.  This time he was much calmer, and he let it go after I tried my best to tell him it was okay to be scared.  I told him I thought we're all a little scared, but we should live our lives to enjoy our life, not to waste it worrying about something we can't change.  He seemed somewhat satisfied with that response although I'm sure it's not the last I will hear of it.

With all this talk of death, I couldn't help but think about my own worries.  What if one or both of us does die?  Who will be their "mom & dad" if we both do?  What if my children don't get to know their parents?  Or worse, I can't even bear to think about other scenarios.  I think it would be great if I would just take my own advice.  I've said my prayers, so I guess I have no choice but to leave this in God's hands.  Now, I'm just praying for all the right answers.

Sweet Dreams Jameson

Every night is a different adventure to get Jameson to sleep. Just in this last week, I introduced him to Eva Cassidy. I know, not really manly, but it's effective at bedtime. Songbird seems to do the trick every time.

For those of you that don't know Eva Cassidy, have a listen. She has a great voice, and her story is quite interesting.

Three Lovely Years

In the last three years since God blessed us with your birth, you have changed our lives in ways I never imagined. As you grow another year closer to becoming a man, I want to tell you about the happiness you have brought to our lives.

When I first found out I was pregnant with you, I was completely shocked. We knew you were coming, but we never expected you so soon. I remember being thankful that I would get to be a mother. In the months that followed, my body changed, as did the amount of sleep I got. Nonetheless, as most parents will tell you, pregnancy does not prepare you in any way for parenthood, with the possible exception of all that sleep deprivation. I had no idea how much you were missing in our lives.

As the weeks passed, and the realization that you would be born soon became more palpable as you grew, I already knew that I loved you more than I had ever loved myself. I dreaded going to my appointments and having that bit of doubt enter my mind that I might not hear your heart beat. I remember breathing a little easier every time that I did. I will never forget the first time I saw you on the ultrasound. I couldn't believe I was seeing the baby I would be holding in about 7 months. Here you are at about 10 weeks - just a little bean with heartbeat.



I struggled through your pregnancy a bit at the end, and you kept surprising me right up until the end. You were due on October 9, 2005 (our 1st wedding anniversary), so when September rolled around, I thought I had a few weeks to pack. Much to my surprise, you showed up 3 weeks early on September 21st.


When we brought you home, I was so overwhelmed with the idea of being completely responsible for you, but thankfully, Dad came to the rescue and reassured me that we would be fine. I remember we were completely unprepared, so your dad had to make a run to Target for some baby essentials. After a few weeks, I settled into motherhood, and I began to feel comfortable that I knew what I was doing.

In these early months, I watched you sleep all the time, and I thanked God for blessing us with you. I wanted to hold you all the time, and despite others' warnings, I let you sleep in mom & dad's bed so I could have you close to me all night. Although we had a hard time getting you to sleep on your own, I will never regret (and I often miss) putting you in our bed. I am thoroughly convinced that co-sleeping is one of the great joys of life. I am happy to have shared that time with you.

As the months passed and you began to crawl and walk and talk, I only became more enamored of you. With each day that passed, I was more certain that there is no greater purpose in life than to have a family and love it. I still struggle with my patience, but my love for you is unwavering.

From day one, you were a very social baby. You were anxious to start talking so your voice could be heard. 'Mom' was your first word, and oddly, 'backpack' (Dora the Explorer) followed not far behind. Once you learned your first couple words, there was no stopping you. Early on, you would get frustrated when I couldn't understand EXACTLY what you were trying to tell me. Now you've learned how to rephrase or explain what you're trying to tell me when I don't understand. My conversations with you are always an adventure because you can always make me laugh.

You started off as a great eater, but at about 18 months we hit a road block. Suddenly, you wanted to exercise your independence, so mealtime became a real challenge. Unfortunately, you have your dad's appetite, so I always think you should be eating more, and he always thinks you're fine. He may be right, but if I didn't worry about what you eat, who would?


Consider yourself a well-traveled baby. In your three years, you traveled to Mexico City, Lake Tahoe (NV), Orlando (FL), New York City, and Scottsdale (AZ). Soon, you can add Las Vegas to the list. You're a great traveler, and we look forward to many more family trips with you and the twins. Here you are showing off one of your souvenirs.


I make a point to tell you 'I love you' every day, and these words never lose their meaning. You like to tell me you "love me too, too much", and these moments I especially cherish. I love how much you love your love your babies and how you always tell me how "that Maya is a funny girl". I love to watch them squeal with delight when they see you and how you can always make them laugh. I love that you want to read them bedtime stories, and you always want to help me cover them. You are such a good big brother, and I am so happy that mom and dad were able to give you the gift of family.



So here I am with this day upon us. You're turning three, and I couldn't help getting choked up while looking at pictures of your first three years of life. In many ways, you're still a baby, but I
know today marks another year gone, alive now only in our memories. Though I cannot help but mourn its passing (just a tiny bit), I'm overjoyed to have lived it with you.

But today is no different in that I will pray that God keeps you and your babies happy and healthy. For every day I get to share with you, I consider myself blessed. I hope that when you are old enough to reflect on your own life that you will remember being loved and happy. I wish happiness and freedom above all other things for you. I want you to find your own way but know that you can always lean on mom and dad.


You are loud, opinionated, stubborn, warm, kind, affectionate, intelligent, sensitive, impulsive, hyperactive, verbose, and a thousand other things. I love every bit of you.

Happy Birthday, Jameson! Thank you for three wonderful years.

Jameson Makes a Discovery

I was walking upstairs to take a short video of the babies before bedtime, and Jameson interrupts me with a discovery.



FYI - "peepees" is slang in Spanish for, in this case, toe jam.

Two Spills In Two Days

Babies are asleep, so I've gone kind of blog crazy. Jameson has had a rough couple of days though, so I thought we might want to remember them.

Yesterday, my mom, Jameson, and I went to Sam's to get a few things. After we checked out, we stopped by their food area to get something to eat. At this particular Sam's they have the all-in-one table and bench combination where you're not really sure where the table ends and the bench begins. Anyway, they don't have backs. I think this was the first time Jameson sat in one of these. I picked him up, set him in the seat, and no sooner had I set him down and he was already leaning back and losing his balance.

I realized he was falling too late, but I managed to break his fall by grabbing his shirt. Nonetheless, he continued to fall head first toward the ground. I heard his head bonk against the concrete floor, and I picked him up right away. I was scared because it's a hard floor, and he was crying relatively hard. I took him to the bathroom to compose him, and he seemed okay within a couple of minutes. I could already feel the goose egg he was developing. He didn't show any signs of concussion or any other head trauma, so we headed home and I kept an eye on him. He seemed okay the rest of the night, and I was glad I was able to catch him at least enough to break his fall.

He still has his goose egg.

As if one spill was not enough, earlier today I was carrying up Truman after he had fallen asleep in his high chair. I told Jameson I would be right back. When I walked out of the twins' room, I realize that Jameson is at the top of the stairs waiting for me. I tell him to head back downstairs carefully. He turns abruptly, and loses his balance. He tumbles a couple of stairs. I don't panic at first because he seems to regain his balance. But as he tries to continue downstairs, he tumbles down another couple of stairs. Now, I start to panic.

I feel myself frozen, not sure what to do as I watch him tumbling down the stairs. He is falling slowly, and I don't know if I should try to catch him before he hits the ground. I am kind of afraid to stumble after or on top of him and make it worse. At this point, he is close to the bottom, and he has continued to stumble down slowly. Unfortunately, his tumbling accelerates on the last four stairs, and he lands with a thud, luckily not on his head, but on his side.

I race downstairs to pick him up and check for injuries. He seems okay and is more scared than injured. My heart is racing, and again, I find myself thanking God it wasn't more serious.

Two days, two falls, but apparently, no worse for the wear . . . somehow, somewhere, someone is watching over him when I cannot - or fail in doing so.

Laundry Is Done . . . kinda

It's been a while since my last post, but if you notice the time this is when I have "time" to write.  Everyone is in bed, and the piles of clean, unfolded laundry were taunting me.  They're now folded, and I promised myself I wouldn't post unless I got the laundry folded first.  I'm not really done though because there's about 3 "dirty" piles still waiting for me to get to them.  Oh well, they will wait another day.

Don't worry this post is NOT about laundry, but it was on my mind when I started writing.

This post is about Jameson.  I have been meaning to write for a couple of weeks now about his newly found interest in chapter books.  I'm not crazy in that way, so I would never offer a chapter book to a 2 year old because I would not expect him to be interested.

About a month ago, I was at my parents' house, and I decided to bring home more of the stuff that still clutters my old room at their house.  Oddly, I have so many things still there that it looks like I still live there.  Anyway, that day I decided I would bring home more of the children's books that I accumulated while taking a children's literature course back when some bad circuitry in my brain had me thinking I would go into teaching (While doing my student teaching semester, I decided it wasn't for me).  

I brought home a small Roald Dahl collection that includes George's Marvelous Medicine, Matilda, The Twits, The BFG, and Esio Trot.  I set them on the desk upstairs, and didn't think much of them until I later saw that Jameson had moved them into his room.  Again, I just thought he would look at them and get bored once he realized they didn't have many pictures.

He didn't.  He asked me to read George's Marvelous Medicine, and we finished it a few days later.  We have since moved on to Matilda.  When I started reading George's Marvelous Medicine, I thought for sure he'd be bored in 5 minutes.  He wasn't.  In fact, he was anxious to find out what was going to happen.  I can't lie -  I was interested too.  It's a nice change reading a chapter book to him since picture books and such can get boring when you're reading them for the tenth time.  On the other hand, some never get old because they're fun to read.

I'm interested to see if he asks me for more once we finish the Roald Dahl set, and I'm wondering where this will lead.  I'm not really a fiction aficionado, but I love non-fiction.  Lately, I've been on a business and financial topics kick.  You don't suppose he'd want to read Family Business Succession with me?  Okay, maybe I'll wait until he's four.

All Alone . . . and Sick

James is stuck at Newark Airport, and I'm at home alone with 3 little ones - sick ones at that.

Yup, out of the blue today, Jameson spiked a fever.  I, as usual, ran him to the doctor to have the ears and throat checked.  Both clear, but I'm still keeping an eye out.  He was still running a fever by bedtime, so I can look forward to little sleep.  Now, I'm just waiting for the babies to catch up with him.

James is out of own all week for work, so I'm relying on my mom and his mom and sisters to help me as they can.  I'm not really nervous about being alone a whole week so much as being alone with sick kids.  When it comes to sick kids, saying that I'm paranoid is probably an understatement.  I start imagining all kinds of scenarios, and I completely over-think things.

For instance, tonight Jameson gets up from my bed which he laid in for a while following his shower and says, "My neck hurts.".  As soon as he says this I'm already wondering if meningitis is a possibility.  Yes, it is, but I know it's far more likely it's just some other virus.  I wait a few minutes and ask him if his neck still hurts.  He tells me it doesn't, but he's already planted the thought in my head.  James isn't here to tell me I'm crazy, so I try to keep my imagination in check.

Wish me luck.  We miss you, Dad.

We Got a New Dog!

He named himself "Black" and neighs because he forgot momentarily that dogs bark.  This is JJ's most recent imaginary identity.  Funny, but not nearly uncommon here.  His imagination is running wild recently, and he loves pretending he is anyone but himself.  Each night after bath time, he insists on wearing his Batman or Superman pajamas.  He is then magically transformed into a superhero and asks us to call him either "Batman" or "Superman", per his attire.  I have to say, "Batman, do you want anything else to eat?" or "Superman, go pick out the books you want me to read.".  He enjoys it, and I enjoy playing along with him.

Tonight, we were in the middle of this routine when he decided he didn't want to be Batman even though I had the pj's all ready to go.  I go to put the shirt over his head and he says, "No, I don't want to be Batman".  I respond, a bit surprised, "You don't?  Okay, I'll be Batman".  Then I proceed to try to put the 2T shirt over my head.  As I pull it over my head, I say, "See!  I'm Batman.".  I look over at Jameson and realize that as I was pulling his tiny shirt over my head, he was pulling his pants over his head.  Almost as soon as I proclaim my new superhero status, he proclaims his, "I'm Pantsman!".  At this point, I just lost it.  He's a nut, but I shouldn't be surprised.  He gets his quirky sense of humor from me.

He's not only started imagining he is other people or animals, but he has also started trying to talk to me using fake words - think of Jabba the Hut in the Star Wars movies.  I play along, and he tries to outdo me by coming up with longer fake sentences each time I say one.  I'm not sure what gave him this idea, but it's still funny.  Usually, I can remember some book, cartoon, or movie where he's getting his crazy ideas, but I'm not sure about this one.

I have countless other quirky JJ stories, but I must get to sleep.  James is out of town on business, which leaves me all alone with 3 under 3.  I pray that I make it to morning with the energy to do this 2 more nights.  I'm not complaining though.  I'd rather be with my babies than away from them.

Got a New Camera

I was looking for an excuse to buy a new camera. Well, I thought taking daily pictures of the kids seemed like a good one. Here's some to share.

Jameson after his first snow adventure. He's freezing and boogery, but he had a blast making snow angels and throwing snowballs with dad.

Unfortunately, I have spent a lot of time doing this for the last 2 weeks. Poor kids picked up 2 viruses back-to-back. We're still getting over the last one.

My cousin came in to town for a few days and begged me to take pictures of her with Amelia. She already has a favorite, and sadly, she was not afraid to admit it.

My sleepy bunny - if only all babies were as easy as Truman . . .

Here's JJ in one of his many pictures with his babies. As he puts it, he "loves them too, too much".

Couple of close ups

JJ exhibiting his nightly routine of gathering ALL his books and piling them on the bed for me to read.

Amelia being a "big girl", looking so proud

Abuela con Amelia

Abuelo con Truman

JJ showing off his "mad face" for the camera.

Kids Say . . .

yes, the darndest things. . .

Just a quick post because he made me laugh tonight (not that he doesn't every night).

Jameson likes to watch cartoons in bed with me at night and/or have me read him books before bedtime. Well, tonight I had been doing some work on the computer, so he had not seen much of me in the evening. Whenever I do this, when I finally do go downstairs, he always acts really clingy.

Well, tonight when I finished my work, I went downstairs to tell James I was getting in the shower and taking Truman with me. Jameson immediately comes over to me and grabs my hand. He starts walking up the stairs, and I tell him that I need him to wait with his dad because I'm going to take a shower. He says, "I want to take a shower with you." He's already had his shower at this point, so I say, "No, JJ you've already had your shower. You don't want to take another shower." He persists and while pulling me by the hand says, "No, I want to take my clothes off with you and take a shower together."

I know. He's only 2, but I had to laugh. I am sure he'll enjoy hearing this story when he's older.

Warning: Bad Parenting Skills Ahead

In 15 years, Jameson will probably look back and blame us for the bad sleeping and eating habits we have given him (although we did our best initially to avoid them). Lately, it's all too much that we choose our battles, and junk food and bedtime are two we often lose. Only time will tell how much damage we have done. We do our best to be the best parents we know how to be, but lack of sleep, newborn twins, and a persistent toddler REALLY make that difficult.

Here is some evidence:

There is one thing I find really hypocritical about most parents (including us). We all want the best for our children, and we try to shelter them from making the same bad choices we make. Here is JJ eating an ice cream sandwich (one of my favorite guilty pleasures). Poor kid has his mom and dad's nasty sweet tooth. Yes, we could have made a healthier food choice, but is it really fair to treat yourself then tell your kid he can't have it? I am sure I will hear about this one from James.

Here's more evidence of what many would consider a bad habit, but it's one of my favorite nighttime activities. JJ likes to curl up in bed with me and watch Justice League Unlimited, Batman, and/or Superfriends. Here he is tonight waiting on me to get him some milk and come watch his shows with him. Maybe once our schedules normalize here, he'll get to bed at a decent hour again. If and when that happens, I will miss our little ritual. I am sure his dad will be happy to see it go.