Almost the weekend… we can’t wait. It’s been a good, busy week. Brian’s been doing some consulting work since July or August, and between that and school he’s BUSY and we’re looking forward to the weekend and our trip to South Carolina Sunday to Tuesday. Last night we had a combined home church dinner and fellowship with friends from our "former" home church of last year as well as our current home church. Good times!!

Not much blog-worthy going on lately. Analise is full of chatter, from the moment she wakes up (this morning, saying "when I grow up, I want to be a tea party". ?!?) to tucking her into bed ("I want Veggie Tales!" she says, requesting to fall asleep to her favorite worship CD). She loves singing, most particularly the old Amy Grant favorite, Thy Word, sung by Bob and Larry of Veggie Tales on their worship CD. She’s learning more and more of it. She and I are enjoying some "quiet time" together reading her Bible each afternoon. Yesterday, she said, "I’m reading my Bible tells me so." Yes, another favorite song lately is Jesus Loves Me, so she knows the Bible tells her so. She’s been attending the Missions Friends program for 2-3 year olds at Brian’s parents church on Wednesday evenings. Brian enjoys looking at our world map with her finding where the missionaries are from. Last night we asked her what she learned about, and it sounded like she said "believers in Africa". Wow! She told us about the mission-raries in Africa. We did find out, though, that she might have been saying "zebras" in Africa, since they talked about animals in Africa, too.

Life has just been boringly-busy. The closest thing to excitement yesterday happened just after Brian called to say he was coming home for lunch with us. Analise was asking to paint, which I’d promised her earlier. Josiah had just woken up and he was HUNGRY. So I stripped Analise to her diaper, put her in her high chair to paint, which she’s never done before. Thank goodness for Crayola washable paints:) The doorbell rang, and it was the piano tuners. Ag. I got them started, gave Analise a cup of water, paper and her paint, said a small prayer that she wouldn’t make too much of a mess, and went to feed Josiah. Well, she liked painting, but of course, she spilled the water and started wailing, not long after Josiah settled in to eat. Poor guy. I had to stop him, which makes him VERY mad, and go clean up the puddle from the high chair, get Analise a clean paper, and get her restarted. We managed to get everything attended to and get back to J’s lunch, and I think he’s forgiven me:) He rolled from his stomach to his back tonight! He’s very very close to rolling back-to-stomach but I think he knows that it’s not so fun on his belly, so there’s little motivation.

Tomorrow I’m going to try a new recipe for dinner – ravioli lasagna. I saw it somewhere, and can’t find the recipe exactly, but it’s just cooked cheese ravioli, layered in a baking dish with spaghetti sauce, ground seasoned beef and topped with cheese. Sounds good… If it is, I’ll post it here. It’s a carbo-loading dinner for Brian and his dad because they’ll be doing a big bike ride on Saturday – 100 miles for Brian and 25 for his dad.

Ok, it’s bedtime. Have a good Friday!

Yes, 2 posts in less than 24 hours. I’m trying to recpature some of the readers who I’ve probably lost with my infrequent posting over the last month. Nothing draws ’em in like cute kid pictures… So here you go!

Josiah is 4 months old today! Amazing. I can’t believe how the time has flown since June 9th (click for a recap!). It’s truly mind boggling to think how much they change from birth to 4 months. I love watching his personality develop. He’s a very mellow boy. He likes to be close to you, and still chooses to fall asleep snuggled on my chest, probably ingrained from his first moments snuggling on my chest just minutes after he was born. He’s still got beautiful blue eyes, and I think they may stay that way. Both Brian and Analise have brown eyes, and mine are greenish, though Aunt Kat (my sister) and Uncle Matthew (Brian’s brother) both have blue eyes. He loves to smile a big open-mouth smile. He’ll laugh if you kiss him in the right place. He loves to bounce around in his jumper, and he likes to make howling cat noises just to hear himself… or maybe to make sure we’re not forgetting he’s here?

We had some fun this morning in the fall sunshine. Analise was a good sport, and I thought I’d include all the pictures of her various faces while trying to get a "good" smile. She’s quite the cutie today!

First off, here’s a couple cute pictures of Analise holding Josiah. He’s almost too big for her already! She loves to be close to him, though, and they sure are sweet together.

Next a few more pictures from the pumpkin patch last weekend. If you’d like some comparison, you can see pictures of Analise from last year’s pumpkin patch adventure here. She has grown up so much in a year! It’s amazing! I got very distracted by the old blogs when I was searching for that. Even though some days seem to last forever… time still flies by faster than we realize! Back to the pumpkin patch…

We just got a new double jogging stroller! I’m so excited! It’s very comfortable, and it’s not nearly as hard to push around our hilly neighborhood as I imagined. Now we can get out for some good long walks! I’m pleased to note that I’m within 1.5lbs of my pre-Josiah-pregnancy weight (which happened to be about 8lbs over my pre-Analise weight, so I’ve still got a few stubborn pounds to go) which makes me feel pretty good about myself. Clothes are fitting better, and if I can get rid of a couple more, it might warrant some new ones that fit even better! Now if only I could firm up this the soft-post-baby-belly… Hopefully, our stroller will help this out! Analise is so cute, though, as she really likes to hold Josiah’s hand during our walks.

Not much too relate here. It’s been a busy weekend, sort of. We had a pretty relaxing day here with a long walk and a trip to the playground. Today we had a home church ministry lunch after church and then a birthday party for Analise’s friend… at another playground. Analise is a playground MASTER. She loves the slides, especially the big ones. She can climb the ladder, she likes to swing HIGH, and she scaled the little plastic rock wall on the playground in like 10 seconds (because the slide was at the top). She’s singing all the time, particularly “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path”, “Jesus Loves Me”, and “Twinkle Twinkle”. She’s very good at trying to make Josiah happy with her songs when he’s screaming in the car. It’s kind of comical, which is nice, because the screaming could stress you out.

Hopefully I’ll get back to post this week. But if I don’t, we’re excitedly planning a trip to South Carolina next weekend because Brian has Monday and Tuesday off. We’ve got reservations at a great looking bed & breakfast with awesome weekday reduced rates. Brian’s planning his 5 hour 100-mile bike ride through the mountains, and we’re going to enjoy relaxing in our little cottage. We’ll probably visit an apple orchard, too.

I’ll leave you with a couple cute pictures. Enjoy!

Another busy week and weekend here. I don’t have time right now for the recap, but we’re almost all healthy and happy. Just a couple quick pictures of the highlight of the weekend – a trip to Old Baker Farm to pick our pumpkins! Above is the cutest one… Josiah just settled right into the pumpkins when I perched him there. I have 6 photos that are all cute, but this is the best. He was happy the whole time, even as he was sliding down between them! We caught a few Analise smiles below and one family photo. MAN – it’s hard to get a family picture with two squirming little ones! The last picture is of Josiah this evening in a cute smocked outfit someone gave us. He was an especially handsome little guy today! Hopefully these will whet your appetite for more, and hopefully I’ll be able to check back in tomorrow or Tuesday with some chit-chat.

Well. What a weekend it was. Last week was rough with both Analise and I being sick. She wasn’t running a fever by the time Tuesday came around for Mother’s Day Out, but I didn’t feel like she should go with her cough. I was REALLY sick on Tuesday, though, and wishing desperately she was well enough to go. My wonderful mother-in-law rescued me and took Analise for the day. Whew! On Wednesday, I called a friend to cancel getting together for coffee, and when she heard I was sick, she offered to come pick Analise up to play with her daughter for a few hours to give me a break. What amazing people I have around me! Analise had a great time, and I’ll definitely have to repay that well-appreciated favor.

Wednesday, though, wore me out getting ready to host our group of 12 for home church. By the time everyone had left and the kids were in bed, I was exhausted and feeling so bad and miserable for myself. Thursday, Analise was well enough to go to school, and I thought I felt ok enough to go to my Bible Study. I went but it sure wore me out and I sounded like I shouldn’t have been there. We were all happy when Friday arrived signaling the week was almost over and we’d have Brian around to make us happy:)

But Friday afternoon, Analise woke up crying from her nap after only 45 minutes. I tried to get her back to sleep, but she’d only doze and then start crying again. I thought she was being a grumpy 2-year old, and I was kind of crabby that she’d woken Josiah up. We were supposed to go to a birthday party that evening, so I kept trying to get her to stop crying so we could go get a present at Toys ‘R Us. She’d stop for a bit, but hen start up again. It was very unlike her, but I was sure she was just being an overly tired 2-year old. I put her in time out for a bit, but she kept crying. Brian’s mom stopped by to drop something off, but even she couldn’t get Analise to be happy. They went out to play, and she’d play for a few minutes before starting to cry again. She was crying for daddy, so I called him to come home a little early. Even when he got there, she still wouldn’t stop crying and it had been 2 full hours of crying.

So finally, at 4:55, I decided maybe I should call the pediatrician’s office in case something was wrong. They got us into the after hours clinic just down the road from us at 5:45. She hadn’t been running a fever, but she started to feel warm when we got there, and sure enough, when they took her temp it was 101.5. The doctor quickly found she had a bright red bulging ear infection in BOTH ears. I feel like the WORST mom. How are you supposed to know that something’s wrong and they’re not just whining?? She never said anything hurt, and it wasn’t very much different from her usual 2-year old whining, except that it lasted for hours. I guess I’ve learned something, but I sure feel like I need some more of that “mother’s intuition”!

So Analise is feeling better now, though all of us – including Brian and Josiah – have nasty sounding coughs. Josiah came down with congestion as the week progressed. He was grumpy and needing to be held a lot this weekend, so I finally called the after hours nurse and we went in again Sunday afternoon. He’s already 14lbs! He doesn’t have an ear infection, maybe due in part to the low-dose antibiotics he takes to prevent a urinary tract infection from his reflux problems. He does have the start of bronchiolitis, though, which is a constriction of the airways from coughing. Monday was quiet and everyone rested well today, so hopefully, this week will see us all feeling better.

I’ve learned that it’s HARD work to be a mom to 2 when you’re feeling good. It’s nearly impossible when you’re sick, and you honestly have to do a lot of relying on God’s grace and patience. And I had just recently “decided” that we could “handle” normal life with 2, but when you get behind… watch out! It’s overwhelming and exhausting to catch up. Note to self and anyone else interested: When friends have child #2 (or more), offer to bring dinner to freeze and do some laundry – especially folding! You can let life pass you by, but eventually, laundry has to get taken care of. It took me ALL last week to get 4 loads folded, and just now that it’s all finally put away, I’ve got several loads waiting to be washed again. THIS is my exciting life:)

Ok, you’re caught up on our life. Above, my little jailbird boy propped up on the couch with all the pillows. Below, the two unhappy campers in the glider rocker. In the next picture, Analise found Josiah laying on the floor chewing on his thumb (he hasn’t quite found it to be good enough to suck), and she laid down next to him to suck hers. Next, Josiah’s newest way to sit in his swing. He loves his feet! Lastly, a message Brian had left for me with the fridge magnets on the kitchen floor to find when I came home from my women’s bible study. What a sweetie!

Alright, it’s been too long since you’ve seen my sweet

little ones. I’m not going to write an actual post,

otherwise this will never get posted. I’m exhausted

this evening, still fighting being sick, but I really

wanted to get these pictures up so I don’t feel so far

behind! Because i was in a hurry, please forgive the

fact that I didn’t crop or adjust any of these pictures.

First, some pictures form Grandma

Beverly’s birthday dinner last night at Macaroni Grill.

Anailse looked exceptionally cute because she’d had

school pictures taken in the morning, though you can’t

appreciate her cuteness fully in these pics, as usual!

Josiah enjoyed the dinner in his carseat, spending some

time with his newest plaything – his feet.

After dinner, we came back to our

house for a bit, and Analise brought all her friends out

to the living room couch to relax with Grandma, while

Josiah and Grandpa Tom relaxed on the couch in the

family room. I had a sweet moment on the couch with my

cuties in between baths and bedtime.

Lastly, some random pictures of

Josiahs’s ever-more-frequent smiles (though today hasn’t

been one of those days). He enjoys his jumper, although

he doesn’t enjoy it when you just set him in it and

leave him to go do something else. He also has a little

turtle that you can see in the last 3 pictures, that has

a flat, water, filled pad that he can lay on for some

tummy entertainment. I know it looks a bit like he’s

under the couch, but he’s not!

Where’d the weekend go? And where have I been for the last week and a half? Life’s been BUSY. We’ve had: Mother’s Day Out on Tuesday and Thursday, a new women’s Bible study by Beth Moore on Daniel on Thursday morning, a Tastefully Simple party last Sunday, meetings for organizing the children’s ministry at church, the usual home church on Wednesday night, getting things ready to sell at a local consignment sale, and just trying to keep up here. Analise came down with a runny nose on Friday, that escalated into a fever and a nasty cough this weekend. Even though I’ve been praying since Saturday, I woke up sick this morning and Josiah’s sneezing. AG. I hate seeing sickness spread through our family! Actually, I REALLY hate being sick and having to be mom. Hopefully, besides a trip to the doctor, we’ll have a quiet day (folding 3 loads of laundry and cleaning up a messy kitchen). I’ve got a post half-written, and I’ve got several cute pictures to post, but I thought I’d put something up so y’all don’t think we’ve fallen off the face of the earth! Hope to be back during nap time!

I’m out the door to a meeting in just half an hour, so I REALLY shouldn’t be posting this. (Should be feeding Analise breakfast, but she’s engrossed in a Pooh video so I’ve got a few minutes.) I snapped a couple great pictures of Josiah’s sweet smile this morning, and I wanted to share them. When I downloaded them from the camera I found these other cute pictures too. We’ve introduced Josiah to his Fisher Price Jumperoo, which he really enjoys. He’s a bit on the small side for it, but he does enjoy have his legs under him and boucncing and being upright. Analise has taken to using my pouch to carry her “babies”. Please forgive the fact that I didn’t crop or adjust colors – just uploaded for quick enjoyment. Have a great day – we love y’all!

Today was a first. I went shopping with both kids, by myself. I know you probably won’t believe that after nearly 3 months of being a mother of 2 I’ve not had to go out with both of them. We’ve gone to Chik-Fil-A… well, to the drive-thru. We’ve gone to Bwacka and Boppa’s. But I’ve not had to go anywhere and manage both of them. I’m really lucky that Brian’s always willing to watch one or both while I run out and do errands, or Beverly or Tom are available for me to drop one or both off for a quick trip. More likely, I head out to shop after they’re both in bed. But today I decided I was ready to test the waters. Analise starts her mother’s day out program tomorrow, and I have to find a lunch box and a clear backpack. Walmart is the obvious choice, but I really don’t like WalMart, so I thought we’d enjoy a trip to Target.

All things considered, it wasn’t that bad, at least the kids weren’t. Analise was pretty good, especially since I gave her a package of granola bites to enjoy. I used one of the HUGE child-happy carts. You know, the ones that feel like you’re driving an 18-wheeler. This one sounded like a train. It was so loud! I wasn’t sure what to do with Josiah, as he wasn’t happy in the pouch, so I put him in his carseat carrier in the basket. Now, even with the massive cart, I had very little room for stuff. All the better for my wallet:)

So we walked through the store, clogging up the aisles so people couldn’t get around us. You could hear us on the other side of the store. Anyway, there were no clear backpacks. And no plastic lunch boxes. ARG. And to top it all off, the one other thing on my list was string cheese, which scanned at $3.99/pkg rather than the $1.66 I thought it was. Needless to say, I wasn’t paying $8.00 for string cheese, so I didn’t get it. The cashier wasn’t willing to go check the price, and when I pushed me big rig over there to check myself (after we had finished checking out), I was the one in the wrong. All in all, a frustrating trip, though not because of the little ones.

I hate that I prefer Target to Walmart so much, and I keep TRYING to go there for my stuff, only to have bad experiences. Last time I was in there I was 9+ months pregnant, trying to get Analise a tricycle. Not in stock, had to stand in line for 15 minutes to get a raincheck, this after walking through the whole store. I thought I was going to go into labor for sure. Then a plastic bin I was buying had a broken lid, and the cashier said I could go get another lid. Are you kidding me? As hugely pregnant as I was, I was NOT going to the back of the store. I asked if she could get someone to get it for me. No, she said without calling anyone, we’re too busy and I’m sure there’s no one available. Such customer service!

Anyway, it’s a normal day here. Samford doesn’t have the day off, so Brian had class and we’re just hanging out here. Tonight, though, is our “in-house” date night. For the last couple weeks, we’ve been enjoying an hour of “us” time from 9-10 after the kids go to bed. At 8:30, one of us goes out for nice coffee drinks, and we have a good time together. It’s been really nice to have that to look forward to. Seems like “us” can get lost in the daily grind and the busyness of taking care of kids and life. Hope you’ve had a good Labor Day!

More photos for you! We’ve had a teriffic time with Aunk Kat visiting this week. Sadly, she had to go home and back to school today. This marks the end of our busy summer of hosting guests – first, my mom and dad in June, then the Hafflys earlier this month, and finally, Kat. Who’ll come visit us next? It could be you! I’ll have the sheets changed and the bedroom clean in a day or so!

Anyway, we had a most fun trip to the zoo yesterday. Although it was hot, the Birmingham Zoo is full of fun things to do. First, we headed over to the giraffes. Last time we were there with the Hafflys, Analise fed them, so of course, we wanted to do that again. I didn’t get the great picture that Corrie got, but she still enjoyed it just the same. I did get some cute pictures of the new baby giraffe, though! Mama giraffe and I have a lot in common, nursing and snuggling our little ones!

The baby giraffe would occassionally take off running, first towards the ostriches, sending them scattering with their feathers flapping. Then he would quiet down, but take off in little circles around the feeding station. His long legs were flailed when he ran, but he was quick! It was so cute!

Then we headed over toward the birds, walking by the alligators on the way. It was feeding time! There were 3 baby alligators, who splashed around snatching chunks of meat. I’m amazed they didn’t grab each other in the process. The big guy in this picture didn’t seem to be hungry, but 3 others big ones in the water right below our feet grabbed all the meat chunks and dead rats that got tossed their way. And then they made these huge gulping alligator burps. It was GREAT!

Our next stop was the lorikeet aviary, our second favorite experience behind the giraffes. You can buy a cup of nectar and feed the birds in their enclosure. Other times, it has been overwhelming as 5-10 or more birds land on you, all vying for a spot around the cup of nectar. This time, though, they were not as frantic and settled on Kat’s arm one at a time. Analise enjoyed seeing them up close. Kat loves birds and has a little parrotlet at home. When all the nectar was gone, the birds found her ankle tasty, licking her until we left!

We finally caught a picture of Analise and Kat, with both of them smiling when we rode the train. Here are a couple cute pictures of Kat and Josiah from last night, too. It’s hard to catch his smiles on camera, though, because he prefers when people get up close to him. His smile just melts you, but he saves them until you really focus on him close up. He loves to gurgle and coo at you, like he’s trying to tell you how much he loves you. It was so cute!