It Must be in the Genes

The boy clearly takes after his mother* and is an engineering master: he just jumps right in with any building project or other 3-D task.

Here he is helping some big kids construct a tent for the Memorial Day gathering:

Check out the watch tan line on that big guy!

His sister, on the other hand, is content to sit around (here, propped up by a pack of diapers because the photographer is resourceful like that), and look cute. Laziness and concern with appearances? Totally got that from her father*!

Big shout-out to Jen S for making this adorable bubble and matching headband for Miss C! Is it not the cutest?! Thanks, Amazing Sewing Friend!

*HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There's a First Time for Everything

LOOK! There are TWO little people in the (1980s beautiful golden) tub!

It's supposed to be so hot today that I imagine we'll just be throwing them in it again soon enough! Hope you all have a wonderful Memorial Day!

0.333333333333

The little miss hit 4 months on Wednesday and had her check-up yesterday. She's already exactly in the same ">95th percentile height/50th percentile weight" place as her brother has been for a long time now although, interestingly, he was a little bit of a chub at 4-months with a weight in the 90th percentile. (Wonder if the scale was broken that day? Nah, he was pretty round there for a month or two.)

Anyway, she measured 26.25 inches and weighed just shy of 14 lbs.

"WHAT? What's that you say? Speak up!":

"I'm 4 months old?! That is so fun!! I love posing for these monthly pics!":

"But seriously-- couldn't you have washed my white onesie before this afternoon so we didn't have to take these pics right before bedtime? I'm so sleeeeeeeeepy":

The B-man celebrated his sister's third-of-a-year by playing a little pre-bedtime Whack-A-Mole with FAC and her sister, Courtney, visiting from Georgia. Yeah, he knows he's pretty lucky:

Yeah, They Don't Need Me

I treated myself to a pedicure Sunday afternoon, and when I got back I found:

And:

I'm really looking forward to plenty more escapes like that this summer once the BG is home more often! I'm not even sure they knew I was gone!

I Couldn't Be Prouder

(AKHG, it's okay to do double pigs, right? I mean, that's WAY better than double denim!)

Pool Pals

B's favorite neighbor joined him for some aquatic play on Sunday. These two little guys are hysterical together-- their personalities are so different, but they seem to have a blast hanging out!

Methinks Sean mistook the B-man for a flowering plant in need of some hydration!

SO much fun!

I think B was too cold to smile, but the older-by-one-week neighbor knows how to turn on the charm!

And he might have been the last of the original crew to get into jumping, but he sure has made up for it lately. It's ALL this kid does! (Jessica J-- didn't you say you have at least one of these super-jumpers?!)


The day actually ended up not getting too warm because of the clouds, but they're forecasting 90s by the end of the week. Ugh. Guess we'll just have to let these guys frolic in the water some more!

Say What?!

The BG was at the regional track meet* all day Saturday, so I took the kiddos by myself to a party at the home of one of his former colleagues. I'm sure none of you is surprised that I enjoy hanging with "his" friends (right, Lea Anne and Carrie K?!)!

The school where he taught previously for more than 6 years boasts a science department full of fun teachers in our general age bracket, and we are so thankful that they still include us in their festivities. The only other male in the group, Jerry, actually left the same year the BG did and now teaches at another school in the county. (As you might remember, there are 25 high schools in the county district!!) He still scores invitations to the parties, too, and he was one of the first people I saw when we arrived. I couldn't believe what he was wearing:

Okay, it's hard to see but that's totally a Baylor shirt! (I took a quick snap with my phone so we could text it to the BG-- his response: "Sic 'Em, Jerry!"-- and it was so bright I couldn't really see what I was doing.)

Turns out that Jerry wrote a recommendation letter for one of his students who is indeed going to Baylor this fall. The kid brought him a T-shirt as a thank-you, and J wore it to the party for us! Too funny!

The little miss** was quite the hit at the party, as well. Janet was only the first in a line of science teachers giving her snuggles:

Until she was bad and we put her in the closet:

Just kidding. I stashed her in there to take a snooze!

*He had one kid qualify for the state meet in 3 events! But here's the kicker (no pun intended): she plays soccer and her club team has games on each of the days of the state meet. She has yet to decide whether she will go to her soccer games or compete at the state track meet. Crazy, right?!

**Sheils, that's one of your Sam Moon bows on the headband Cathleen made. (Mama Bear, thanks for the Sam Moon recommendation! No idea if she'll ever actually have hair but it's good to know where there are inexpensive options!!)

Biblio-Quandary

Sometimes, our dungeon-esque lower level boasts some cute kiddos, as it did yesterday afternoon:

ALL the time, it sags under the weight of many, many books:

There are ones inclined towards the Science Teacher:

And there are the ones left over from the Liberal Arts student:

And then there are just the really random ones:

Here's the deal: I really really really would like to simplify our life in terms of stuff. Our abode is small enough already without losing so much space to accumulated stuff that sits and gathers dust. Last year, I finally parted with all my books from graduate school but, as you can see, we still have plenty o' tomes hanging around-- some of which have never been and likely will never be read.

The answer seems simple: Purge! Recycle! Donate! Get rid of all the dust-magnets!

But..... don't "the experts" all say that children should grow up in houses full of books? Does that mean that emptying the home of so many examples of printed text is a bad thing?

Is there a magic number? Or a magic level of literary quality for it to matter?

What say you, wise ones?

So As Not To Play Favorites

A big ol' pic of the little miss:

We're almost to independent Bumbo-sitting. That furry Tickle Monster glove did a nice job of giving her a little extra support for this pic!

Again, the Little Things

There are few things that tickle me more than putting together pieces of an ensemble that were not purchased with the intent of going together.

Thank you, Gap (socks) and H&M (shirt), for brightening my day with your unexpected coordination!

Good to See You Again, Mr. Alderman Ptolemy

The nursery now boasts a new element! Do you see it?

When my parents came at the end of February, they managed to fit that wooden display cabinet in a suitcase! My Gramps (Sheilsie's dad) built it back in the '80s and my Daddyrags stained it. It hung in my bedroom all my growing up years and now has moved on to the newest generation.

As for Mr. Alderman Ptolemy, he's one of the Beatrix Potter characters that live inside the case. I'd make it a trivia question but somehow I bet the answer is just a quick google search away!

(But he's kin to Stumpy, if you catch my drift.)

Sunday, Blessed Sunday

Grammie arrived on Saturday afternoon to hang out with us for a few days while Opa is off with the Germans. Once she made her plans, I realized she'd be here for the 3rd Sunday of the month which is when our church does baptisms, so I made arrangements for C to be baptized yesterday since we'd actually have a family member present!

The B-man just loves hanging with his wee sister:

We waited until the last minute to dress the little miss in her finest whites (compliments of your sweet parents, Mama Bear!):

Oh, look! She's drooling! What a surprise! :-)

There were baptisms scheduled across all 3 services, but she was the only one at our service. Thanks to Funcle Joel for taking a few snaps! (We decided to leave the flash off so it was hard to get clear pics.) Big Brother is clearly enthralled:


Speaking of the photog-- check out this guy and his handsome mini-me!! (probably shoulda left the flash off for all these pics; man, the lighting in that room is powerfully bad for the little point-and-shoot!)

Some other boys who were lurking around:

Grammie and her little chickadee!

After some Kohl's shopping mandated by the arrival of a 30% coupon (FINALLY! :-), we enjoyed a casual lunch. Gotta love the BG with his kiddies:

The end.

Well, That Was Weird

No, friends, I didn't slack off on a Friday morning post-- Blogger has been down with technical difficulties since last night! I can't believe it dragged on for so long. Crazy.

ANYWAY.

What's kinda funny is that I didn't really have much to report today. So instead, I was going to post these pics which are actually now several weeks old, but still too fun not to share:

Awww....she's already a Baylor Bowhead!! We were hanging out in her room after the 3-month "photoshoot" (hence the plain white onesie) and I decided to document some of the wonderful handmade gifts we've received. These 3 bows (which are independent bows but can be clipped onto the headband) were made by my friend, Cathleen. I'm sure it comes as a real shock from the strawberries, 5-point crowns, and BU love pictured above that we were Zetas together!

--

Without blogs to write or read today, we've just been hanging out!! Here, C lounges on an adorable handmade blanket that the BG's aunt and uncle sent us:

And I know you're thinking to yourself-- what a blah drool bib she's sporting! Thank goodness the bibs I bought arrived in the mail today!! I just adore getting to pick fabrics and I LOVE these chenille-backed ones!!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

Update at 3 pm: We needed to do an outfit change due to excessive wetness and I figured, it's 3 pm on a Friday, let's just stick with hand-me-down basics. But look at how that bib really punches up the outfit as it soaks up the drool! :-)

College Day

I think the phrase you're looking for is Cool Cat:

The B-man got called by "college" to come do another research study. Unlike last time's cognitive experiment, this one was in the Linguistics department. The researchers are studying whether preschoolers can understand indirect language: the child is given two objects and then Puppet Froggie makes a statement like "I want the specific item name" (direct) or, in the case of the time that there was a book about ants and a book about sharks for example, "I want to learn more about bugs" (indirect). It was a quick study--Melanie, is this the same one Jillian did recently?!--and B posed with Froggie afterward:

I made the appointment for 10 AM to allow for a pre-crowd arrival at the nearby Jason's Deli for lunch. We got done way earlier than I expected, however, so needed to kill some time. Where would you go in a relatively-unfamiliar area? As for me and my nerdiness, we chose the local library branch. B was thrilled that they had such "giant wires":

Then on to Jason's, where I discovered that our community is supposedly getting one later this year. Um, a nearby spot for a grilled cheese kids meal with fresh fruit and organic milk for $2.59? Yes, PLEASE!! (All the other yummy food, full salad bar, and free soft-serve sure don't hurt, either!)

The wee one seemed to enjoy her first college-and-Jason's experience, too!!

Tricks

Yeah, I didn't put her in the crib like that. Her head was pointed at least 150 degrees in the other direction!

Good thing FAC already bought C a pink Raffie-- she seems to be following her brother to a T, or rather, to a calloused left thumb. Check it out.


The two babies are still pretty freakishly similar. C's eyes are bluer although they might be getting a little darker/cloudier. I think she has the capacity to cry louder and with a higher-pitch but I actually think she cries less than he did, which thankfully wasn't all that bad in the first place. Everyone comments on her grins as they did with the B-man-- thank goodness! Not sure what this smiley mama would do with a sourpuss ;-)

Find of the Day!

Might have done some thrifting recently.

Might have stumbled upon an amazing deal.

I love deals.

Behold the find of the day: a fully-lined wool Janie and Jack jumper for next fall:

It's funny-- I had just been giggling earlier in the day upon receiving an emailed Mother's Day greeting from Janie and Jack that the real Mother's Day gift would have been a 75% off coupon. You know, so I could afford to buy some of their cute clothes!

It all worked out. Did I mention the price?

(Apparently, thrift stores don't believe in decimal places but I'm okay with that because they also don't believe in significantly marking up pricier brands. SOLD!!)

Oh, and speaking of finds....look at what I found in my bed yesterday!

We LOVE the precious onesie, Jennifer T!!! :-)