Will In the Window

So, we're staying at my parents house during Christmas break. Will sleeps in a bedroom at the front of the house. You can see his window as you walk up the sidewalk to the front door. So, Saturday (which was our 5th wedding anniversary, by the way) we put him down for a nap. He only had on a t-shirt and a diaper. Well, my mom came out to ask us if she knew that Will kept opening and closing his door. Randy went to check on him and put him back in his bed. When he went in there, he saw Will looking out the window, opening the curtains with two hands, and NO DIAPER ON. He was exposing himself to the entire neighborhood. It was hilarious. When Randy asked him why he didn't have his diaper on, Will said, "Yeah, I don't have my diaper on." Funny kid.

Jack Attack

He weighed 16 pounds 9 ounces and was 26 inches at his 4 month appointment. He's getting so big. He loves smiling! He can get up on his toes and hands and do "push ups." He can also scoot backwards. I think he'll be crawling really soon.

I put him on my lap the other day while we were having dinner. He just grabbed my dinner roll and put it right to his mouth. It was hilarious. I don't think he'll be a picky eater like his brother.

Will Will Will We Love Our Will

Will is so awesome! I sure love him! We go to story time in League City on Tuesdays. We've been going for over a year now. He just loves it and knows all the songs and games we do there. After it's over we color and get a stamp from the "teachers." They told me that they just love his enthusiasm.

Will likes to get "balls" from the gumball machines. He doesn't know that it's candy, though. So, I am kind of a sneaky mom. I just save a gumball in my purse and we turn the thing and out pops the same green gumball everytime. It's amazing!

We have the missionaries over for dinner sometimes. The other day he was miss pronouncing it by saying Nissionary. So, I said, "M m m m m...missionary." And he goes, "m m m m....Nissionary."

We had a snow storm, believe it or not, in Houston on Wednesday night. I happened while Will and I were at "Lizzy's Grandma's House" helping the Young Women. When we got home we went outside and threw a couple of snowballs.

Yesterday, at Target, it was really windy from that cold front. The carts were blowing all over the place. I put Will in the cart. I told him to not let the wind blow him away. I went to go and get Jack out of the car and was having some difficulties. Sure enough Will starts calling my name and saying that he's blowing away. I run over and get him. He says, "Thanks for saving me." I thought that was hilarious. He knew that I "saved" him.

My Brother Andrew

My brother, Andrew, died in a car accident on Tuesday, December 2. What a tragedy for our family! It has been very difficult. I feel that it was a tender mercy of the Lord that I was able to see him just days earlier at Gran's house on Thanksgiving. I've thought a lot about him and life and death since this has happened. I've come to the conclusion that it was simply his time to go. I don't understand why and I don't think I need to, but I have faith that the Lord knows his sheep and watches over us.

The viewing and the family prayer were difficult. When Thomas starting speaking at his funeral and told stories of his life, the atmosphere changed and everything seemed ok. I am so sad for Taylor, his daughter. I can't imagine what impact this will have on her life. I know that she has a strong and good mother, though, that will take good care of her.

I have such an incredible support system. My very best friends Emily, Angela, and Vanessa were all there and gave me such big hugs and love. What a blessed person I am! There were at least 250 that attended the funeral. What an impact Andrew's life has had on so many people!

I loved my brother! He loved me! I will be able to see him again and give him a big hug!

Grandma Merrell

My wonderful grandmother passed away on Thursday, November 16. She was 90 years old. I loved her so much. She was always so enthusiastic and optimistic. I remember that she would jokingly hold our hands and tell us to go and play. She would make such delicious meals. After every meal she would always describe every dish and declare how wonderful it all tasted.

I was able to attend the funeral in Arizona. Jack and I flew out there. Melody was also able to go. It was bitter-sweet. It was nice to see all of our cousins, aunts, and uncles. Everyone got a kick out of Jack. He was always so happy and smile-y, except in the car.

I will miss my Grandma, but I will see her again.

Football....Player

I was watching Oprah the other day and saw this segment about a little boy who only lived 99 days. He wasn't supposed to live even a day and he made it 99. Those parents took thousands of pictures of him and celebrated his 2 month birthday. I had Jack laying on me taking a nap while I saw this on tv. It made me just want to hug him and kiss him. I know that I take my children for granted too often. I want to do better.

Last Thursday night we went to the mall as a family. Will loves to "stomp his feet" on the computer power pad thing that they have there. Jack was sleeping in the stroller. Randy and I were standing next to Will watching him play. I realized that Jack was starting to wake up, so I started to push him around some. After I began walking with him, I realized that Will was right behind me. I felt like a mother duck. My little duckling just followed right behind me. I just love Will so much. It makes me happy that he wants to be close to me.

Contrastly, today as we left Target (aka Target Red Circle Store) he threw a major fit. He wanted to leave the store walking by himself. Although we just had a big discussion the day before about how we have to hold Mommy's hand because the cars could hit us, he still threw a fit. I still love him...enough to want to keep him safe. Someday he'll understand that I do want him safe and have good intentions. Someday.

For Halloween, Will dressed up as a football....player. He always says it with a delay. It's cute.

Will was playing over by the movie shelf in our living room on Sunday. He saw the label for Costco on the photo album and said, "Costco." It's crazy that he recognized that and knew that it was Costco.

Finally, on Sunday, Will and Jack were in the living room watching tv. Jack was laying on the floor just sqeeling and yelling. He wasn't crying, just trying out his abilities with his voice that he's found. Will said to him, "No, Jack, you don't want to scream." I thought it was funny and cute. They are cute together. Jack just loves to see Will and gives him big smiles.

"Nap" on the Changing Table

Will is in a playgroup. It is our week to host it. I've been teaching them about the letter G and words that start with that letter. Several days after it has been over, he can still recite to me all of those words and explanations that I gave them. Like, we put the garbage in the garbage can and then put it next to the street and the garbage man comes and puts it in the garbage truck. He is so great. Then, last night I went to check on him after he fell asleep and he had something in his hand. On closer inspection, I found the green letter "G" in his hand. I was so proud of him. He can learn so much. I need to take this opportunity to teach him since he can retain so much knowledge.

On Saturday Randy was at school and I was home with the boys. It was about 4:00 in the afternoon and Will was in his room "taking a nap." I heard him open his door and I could hear him creeping slowly down the hall. I told him to go back and lay on his bed. Yeah right. I stayed on the couch because Jack was sleeping on me. I was dozing on and off myself. I could hear Will making noise and doing who knows what, but I just stayed on the couch. At one point I could hear a distant "Mommy." But it was nothing alarming, so I didn't do anything. He knew he was supposed to be sleeping, so he played very quietly, as if I wouldn't hear what was going on. (Well, that turned out to be kind of true.) I could hear a familiar noise, but I didn't recognize what it was. Well, when I finally got up, I found Will. He had climbed to the top of Jack's changing table and was stuck. (The familiar noise was him kicking on the table, like Jack does when he gets his diaper changed.) He was like a cat climbing up a tree; he could climb up but couldn't get down. During his stay on the changing table (who knows how long it was) he had somehow dropped the white pad. He was also playing with the blinds. When the cats away... It was really quite funny, but of course I couldn't laugh in front of him. After I helped him down, he was looking a little distressed and probably teary eyed so he would avoid getting in any trouble. Oh Will! Randy and I got a good laugh about it later when he got home.

Jack is starting to do some cool things. He's always been a very alert baby, just like his brother. He looks around and makes eye contact (usually smiles, squints his eyes, and loses his binky at you when he does that) and seems to know what's going on. The other day I was holding him and Randy was sitting next to us on the couch. I said to Jack, "Where's Dad?" Right away Jack turned his head and smiled at Randy. It was so cool!

Hello Day

Randy and I have decided that we do not want Will to watch Barney. We find Barney a little annoying and weird. Well, a few months ago Will got a free book when he went to the doctor. It was a Barney book. It's called "Hello Day!" Will likes to read that book. One day I realized that he saw another picture of Barney somewhere else and called him "Hello Day!" I didn't bother to correct him, because I figure he'll never need to know his real name. I think he actually knows Barney's real name now, but I wasn't the one to tell him. Anyway, I just think that it's a funny, quirky thing that Will does.

Will can officially open doors now. He discovered how to do it last week at Nana's house. The bedroom he sleeps in there has an easy door knob. So, we'll have to see how he does now with his new trick.

Jack is really able to move around now. If you put him on a blanket or in his crib and leave the room for a few minutes, you'll come back and find him in a totally different position. He's so great! He can wear some 9 month clothes. He's growing so fast. We sure love our little Jack Attack!

October Trip to Dallas

Randy told me that last night while I was sleeping I said, "Will, sit down!" I thought that was hilarious. I'm trying to get him to be obedient even in my dreams. He does a pretty good job. It's just so much fun to bounce on the couch, rather than sit.

We got home from Dallas about midnight Sunday morning. Jack did super! He slept about 95% of the time. It was so nice for Randy and I to have all that time to talk to one another. We went to the BYU vs. TCU game. It was a terrible experience. Guess you can't win them all. It was nice to see our families. We had a baby shower for Vernice. As Will says, "Baby Nathan is in Aunt Vernice's tummy." He knows whats going on.

I took Jack and Will to HEB today to get some groceries. Will always wants to get a ball from the machine "after we pay for our stuff." Today when he got his blue ball, he acted like he had won the lottery. He was yelling and excited! He's so fun!

Will's latest thing is to put his finger on his cheek and say, "Hmmm, I don't know." It's funny to see him learn mannerisms.

Jack rolled over from his back to his tummy on Saturday at Nana's House. He did it when Randy was watching him. I missed it. I saw him go from his tummy to his back, though, first. He's growing up so fast.

First Time for Everything

This is my first time using a blog. I mostly want to use this to create a journal of events for milestones in my kids lives. Right now I've got two wonderful boys, Will and Jack. Will is now 2 and will turn 3 in just 4 months! Ahhh! That's crazy to me. Jack is now 3 and 1/2 months. Their wonderful dad is Randy and he's a law student at University of Houston. He's got 1 year and 7 months to go (but who's counting?). We have been married for almost 5 years. December 27 will be our 5 year anniversary.

Now for some fun stuff. Will is so funny. He likes to do and say the same things over and over and over and over again. Like every morning, he'll wake up and go knock or bang on his door. (He can't open doors yet, thankfully.) Then, when Randy or I go and open it, we usually ask, "Did you sleep good?" and his reply is always, "Yeah, I slept good in my bed." He'll say it in a whispered tone. Every morning it's the same thing. Even if we don't ask how he slept, he'll still say the same thing. Also, when he gets ready for his nap in the afternoon, he will go and stand by the door and will say, "Ready, Get Set, GO!" and run and pick out a book. Then, he throws it to me and we read it. He likes his routines.

Jack is so sweet. He loves seeing himself in the mirror. We'll go and hold him in front of it and he'll see his little reflection and immediately he has this huge grin and his little eyes get all squinty. It's so cute. He can say gee and gaw and goo. He likes to lay on the floor and discover new sounds he can make. He'll also make little bubbles with his mouth. If he would only sleep through the night and be happy while he was in the car, then he would be absolutely perfect. We think he's pretty close to being that way anyway.

Well, that's all I've got for now. Hopefully, now that I've created this blog, I will do a better job of keeping track of fun and important stuff going on in my kids' lives. Getting out those baby books seems to be beyond me sometimes. Shame on me!