BYU at Tulane

We went with the Grimm's to New Orleans last week for the BYU football game. All of us went in their minivan. 4 adults and 4 kids. We survived the car ride, which is saying something. It's a 5 1/2 hour drive from Houston.

It was nice to stay at the Intercontinental New Orleans. (Thanks Hotwire) Will and Jack loved the hotel room. Of course Jack wasn't so fond of it during the sleeping hours. We walked around the town on Saturday morning. It's such a neat town. I love the beignets. They are so yummy! Then we took the trolley to the Tailgate Party. That was the low part of the trip. It was raining. And raining and tailgates just don't work together. The kids loved the trolley, though.

The football game was about what we expected. We blew out Tulane. It was nice to have an up close and personal game. The Superdome was practically empty. It was raining really hard after the game was over. We had to walk like a mile or two in it to get back to our hotel. Will kept stating the obvious (like 15 times), "Mommy, it's raining" "Mommy, I'm getting all wet!" I had Jack in the baby carrier, so I got the umbrella. That was nice. Will and Randy had a lot of fun walking in the rain. It was a fun and quick trip.

BYU vs. OU

Randy and I went to the Inaugural College Football Game at the new Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, TX. The whole time I was getting ready to go, I just kept thinking, "Don't let it be like TCU last year." We got blown out so bad at that game. I wanted our team to "show up" and play well. I figured we'd probably lose, but I wanted to at least look good.

As we were walking towards this massive stadium, all you could see was a sea of red with occasional dots of blue. We had one OU fan say, "Good luck" as we walked past. Seemed like he wanted to add "cause you're gonna need it." We felt like that was probably true.

The BYU fans, who weren't few, but totally outnumbered, were so pumped up. Like an hour before the game started we were already yelling and cheering a lot. Then, the game started and we continued to do a lot of cheering. It was so awesome. We didn't let them even have a first down.

At the end when we were about to win, I was like in total shock. I was thinking, "We could still lose, right?" "OU has time to still score." But they didn't! We won. When I look at the highlights of the game, they show Max Hall and you can see the shock in his face. That's exactly how I felt. But it was an awesome feeling! I was so tired at the end of the game. It was like 4 hours of constant cheering.

I'm so glad that I can say that I was at that game!

One Long Night

So, a couple Saturdays ago I was thinking, "Saturday's are so nice." Randy and I watched a movie and went to bed. I thought it was a little weird when I went in to help Jack and he burped. Typical night...until...1:00 Will comes in our room and is whining. I thought he woke up from a bad dream or something, so I lift him up into our bed. Then, I smelled him. He'd thrown up. So, Randy went to his bedroom to check out this situation. I walked in a little while later and saw the huge mess. It smelled really bad (obviously) and I told Randy that. Apparently that was enough to kick Randy's poor gag reflexes in. He went to the bathroom and started throwing up. Then, I heard Jack crying in his crib. I figured we were making too much noise and we just woke him up. I kind of ignored him for a little bit while I helped Will change clothes. I finally got around to helping Jack. I go in there and he's been throwing up and continues to throw up as I take him out. I am wide awake at this point. Jack only threw up once more that night and he was fine after that. Poor Will didn't share the same fate. He couldn't hold anything day for the next day and a half. I did A LOT of laundry in the course of a couple of days. Luckily it was a Sunday that he was sick and I had Randy here to help me out.

I got that stomach bug two days later. Mine was like Jack's, though, and only lasted a little while. Randy got it a week later. His was really bad, like Will's. I hope that I don't have to deal with that much illness, all at once, for a long time.

July in the Macchi Home

Future Career?

Will Jack be a garabage man, a hairdresser, or a plumber???

Where is Jack's Binkie?

We've had some issues lately in finding Jack's pacifiers. At one point we only had 2 and it was easy to not be able to find any. It was actually an opportunity for Will and I to exercise our faith and pray to find them. That was good. But sometimes I'd just like to have it available, so he can take a nap or whatever. So, I bought some extras so that we have a greater probability of finding one. Anyway, the reason it is so difficult to find them is because of Jack Attack. He likes to drop his binkie next to Will's bed and the wall and see if he can retrieve it...which he never can. Also, he likes to put it in places like trash cans and dirty clothes baskets. Makes sense, doesn't it?

Of course not

Lately Will has used a new phrase. I'll ask him something like, "Did you eat all of your sandwich?" and his reply is "Of course not." It's just really funny. Not sure where he picked up the phrase, probably from Randy and me. Funny kid. He also likes to put on his dad's socks. Here he is showing off his hard work of putting on this sock.

By the way, Will is doing great with his potty training. He has only had a few accidents. I'm so proud of him!

Hopefully I Don't Ginx It

I think Will is on a successful course to being potty trained. He has had 3 straight days of wearing underwear and having no accidents. Well, he had one, but that was because I forgot to set the timer to remind him to go. Other than that, he's doing great. Even at church he was wearing a diaper cause he's not that good yet, and he asked to use the potty. He went twice at church and didn't go in his diaper. But hopefully I don't ginx it by publishing this post.

It's Official...He's Walking

Jack is a walker now. He is doing a great job at it. He's so cute. It's so funny to see this little thing just walking around with his arms in the air. I'm so proud of him!

Mommy Made A Mess on Herpose

Today I was cleaning out Will's closet where he has all of his toys. I was having to make a mess in order to organize and clean it all up. He told me that I was making a mess on "herpose." Apparently that's the proper way to say purpose. I thought that was cute.

Jack's ONE!!!

Happy Birthday to our Jack Attack!

I can't believe it. He has grown up so fast. It's totally bittersweet. He is walking a lot more now. He can take up to 10 steps. He's getting good at checking himself, rather than just falling down. We will clap when he's done walking, and he can clap now, too. He can also wave. He waves bye bye to Dad as he leaves for work. Sometimes he'll wave later if we're by the front window.

We had our first experience of taking a child to the emergency room. Of course it was Jack Attack that caused us to go. His name used to be just a cute pet name, but now it's reality. Anyway, he was pushing a chair around in the kitchen and walking with it. The chair got stuck in the grout between the tiles and he fell down and the chair fell on him. It cut open his mouth (of course where he was also cutting a new tooth). They couldn't do anything for him and he seemed to heal pretty fast.

I have a video I did of him this morning. I only had 8 seconds of memory left on my camera, and he totally did what I wanted him to do in that time period. I like how he closes his eyes and also laughs in the middle. Enjoy!

Itchy Chips and Scary Cheese Girls

Will has had some interesting events occur with food lately. I gave him some spicy Doritos rather than the regular nacho cheese kind. He told me that those chips make him all itchy. I think that's a cute way to describe how something is spicy to him.

Another time we gave him some string cheese. We told him he needed to eat it all gone before he could have his Lucky Charms (he earns those after he uses the potty...although he only eats the marshmallows and not the "oats"). Anyway, he was putting too many pieces of string cheese in his mouth at once and started to gag. He pulled it out, and after thinking about it for a couple seconds, he looked at Randy and me and said, "That piece was angry." I guess he thought the cheese, rather than his gag reflex made that sound.

Here's the traumatic food story. I went to see the Veggie Tales, Pirates Who Don't Do Anything movie with Will at the "red and brown movie theater, with the lights in the floor." Also known as Cinemark. One of the characters just wanted to be lazy and eat these cheese puffs that he found. They called them Cheese Curls in the movie. Then, these cheese curls turned out to be scary little monsters who were trying to eat that lazy guy. They were hopping around trying to run after this guy. They had these big scary teeth and there were tons of them. Will was just scared to death of these things. Mind you, this is a "G" rated movie. He kept telling me, "I just wanna leave now." After we got home and into the next day, he would randomly remember these scary "Cheese Girls" and start tearing up. Poor Will.

One more cute, but not food related story, is that when I tuck Will in his bed at night, as I'm closing the door I'll say I love you. One time I forgot, and he said, "Love you, Mom" after I closed the door. Sure do love him!

A Day in the Life of Jack and Will

Jack wants anyone's food that he can get a hold of. Sometimes he has to work really hard for it. Here's him in pursuit of Will's breakfast. Just so you know, I just took him out of his high chair after he finished his own breakfast. So, it's not like he's starving. Enjoy the video.

Screaming Like the Hairdryer

Randy noticed (I didn't because I can't hear) that when I turn on my hair dryer, that Jack imitates the sound of the dryer. He yells and screams. I think he's so excited that he can sound just like it. Now he even anticipates the sound and does it while I'm plugging it in.

Dad and Bob

Jack can now say Da da da da da and Bob bob bob bob bob. He's actually said Ma ma ma ma ma. But normally I'm bob bob bob. He's so cute!

He can wave. I didn't really teach him that (second children just don't get that kind of teaching as much) but he started doing it. He can wave and say bye bye bye bye da da da da da da.

Wipe My Cries Off

When Will gets upset and cries, he asks us to get a kleenex so he can wipe his cries off. He came up with that one on his own. It's really cute when he says it.

Jack's First Steps

Jack took his first official steps on Saturday, May 23. Both Randy and I were there when he did it. We were at my parent's house. They have soft carpet throughout their house. I think that helped. He hasn't done it much since then, but I think he'll keep working at it.

Rashes and Bumps

Yesterday was a terrible day. Jack woke up and had a rash all over his body. Luckily, I was able to get in to see the doctor. Apparently, he's allergic to ammoxicilon. He'd been taking it for a week. He looks so terrible, but he's acting ok. Hope it continues to clear up.

Then, a couple hours after we got home from the doctor, Will was walking around with a pillow case on his head. He tripped on his fire engine toy on the ground and fell head first into his bed frame. It swelled up right away. Luckily the bed was made, so there were blankets cover the metal frame, but he still hit it at full force. There's gonna be a bad bump there for several days, I think. I told Randy that I think he looks like that lady from Star Trek Deep Space Nine. I don't know her name, but she's got the bumps between her eyes. She's a Bajourn? Is that how you spell it?

Randy's taking finals this week, so I had to deal with this all alone. I guess we all just have days like that, though. It makes us appreciate the normal, unexciting days.

So, last night instead of going to the gym (which I should have done) we ordered pizza and had them deliver it. Sometimes food makes things better. I was able to hang out with Randy and have some pizza. I guess my day ended better than it started.

Little Einsteins...shhh

Will can sing the words to Little Einsteins. He's been able to sing a lot of it since he was like 18 months. Anyway, I thought it was funny when he did it the other day, because he even added the "shhh" part that they say when they are behind the curtains. He's so observant (that or he watches too much tv).

Not Right Now Grandaddy

We went to Uncle Matt's house when we were in Dallas. It was super cold and windy that day, so Will was wearing socks. They have hardwood floors throughout most of their house. Will was running around (as usual) and fell down pretty hard. He was upset, so we were over there trying to console him. Then, Grandaddy comes over and jokingly asks, "Is the floor ok?" My mom told him, "Not right now Grandaddy." So, of couse, Will repeats that. Matt only heard that part of it and thought he came up with that on his own. We all had a good laugh. Matt thinks everything Will says and does is hilarious. He's a good uncle (and his first visitor).

Handy Crane

Will got a bulldozer and dump truck for Christmas from Grami. They are really fun and can do lots of things (or used to do lots of things til Will played too rough with them). Anyway, I think it's funny because he calls the bulldozer a "Handi Crane" because that is what Mickey Mouse uses on TV. Like Mickey's Handy Helpers. He calls construction trucks that too when we go past them on the road. It's cute.

Texas Roadhouse

We went to Caitlin's birthday dinner when we were in Dallas last month. It was a Texas Roadhouse. They have free peanuts there, and people just throw the shells on the floor. We'd been there for a little bit and then were getting ready to go to our table, and Will looked up at Nana (my mom) and said, "This place is a mess." I thought that was hilarious. At least he knows a mess when he sees one.

Then, last week when Randy was driving him somewhere, they drove past Roadhouse down here in Houston. He told Randy that that was the restaurant that we had Caitlin's birthday party. He remembers EVERYTHING!

Do You Look Nice Mom?

As we were leaving to go to a birthday party last night, Will said to me, "Do you look nice mom?" I think he was trying to give me a compliment. I was dressed up more than usual. I have, in the past, asked him if he thought that I looked nice (at times when I thought I did). So, he might have been doing that. But at least he noticed. I think I'm raising a sensitive, observant, and kind little boy. Now, I just have to remember that when he's yelling at me or telling me, "Be quiet, Mommy...Stop talking, Mommy!"

Jack Attacks...Cabinets

Jack is now opening cabinets, drawers, and anything he can get his hands on. Randy installed locks on the kitchen cabinet yesterday that had the cleaning supplies in it. He is just into everything! He's so darn cute that it almost makes the messes ok. Logic of parents. :)

Sensitive Soul

I was driving to the airport on Monday to pick up Randy from his trip to Hong Kong. I was telling Tami a story and it made me cry. Will started to say, "It'll be ok Mommy...it's ok mommy." He kept repeating that. He hears everything I say and he understands. I thought it was so cool that he was sensitive to my emotions.

Jack's Eyes

I took Jack to the doctor on Monday. His doctor is an Asian lady. She commented that his eyes were very unique. I told her that he's the only one with blue eyes. Then, I asked if she was referring to the shape of them. She said yes and that she wondered if we had any Asian people in our family. She thought that he had little Asian eyes. I thought that was funny. Randy's family thought that in Jack's 4 month pictures he looked Asian. I guess the Merrell side of Jack has some squinty-eyed people.

Will's Favorite Store

When we were in Dallas two weeks ago, I was driving to Target to get a birthday cake for Will. We passed by the old Richardson Square Mall. They were having a carnival in the Sears parking lot. I pointed out to Will the ferris wheel. Then, we kept driving and Will saw Lowe's and said, "Wow, Mom, look at that BEAUTIFUL hardware store." It was hilarious.

Will loves to go with Randy to the hardware store (especially on Wednesday nights when I'm at Young Womens). His favorite store, he has informed us, is the hardware store.

All By Myself....Why?

The past week or two the word WHY? has been a main word in Will's vocabulary. I find myself saying, please stop talking or stop asking me that. I feel kind of bad about that, but sometimes I just can't always answer Why questions. He sure is great, though. :)

He's so great that now he can do everything "ALL BY MYSELF." It drives me crazy. But I guess I eventually do want him to do everything all by himself.

Jack is now crawling everywhere. He is so fast. He is into everything!!! Totally different than Will. I feel so unprepared to have a crawler in my house. I think I'll have to lock up cabinets soon. He seems like the kind to take everything out of cabinets.

He's also pulling up some. I noticed this on Sunday when I put him down for a nap. I was doing something else and heard him crying in his crib. I went in there and saw him trying to pull up on his crib. Randy lowered his mattress to the lowest setting that evening.

Potty Training

Will just went pee pee on the potty!!! It was so wonderful to hear that sound! He was so excited, too. He flushed the potty all by himself, and then we both waved and said, "Bye bye pee pee!"

What led up to this occurrence was me changing Jack's diaper and talking about how babies wear diapers. I was saying how when Jack grows up that he'll wear big boy pants and use the potty, but right now he's just a little baby and wears diapers. The next thing I knew, Will was next to me with some big boy pants and ready to take off his diaper. Hooray for Will (and Mommy)!

Will's 3!

We just celebrated Will's 3rd birthday! I cannot believe it. I have been a mom for 3 years. It seems like longer than that. He is so wonderful! I am so blessed. We rented a moonwalk and had friends come over to our house and play. It was a lot of fun.

Jack is now crawling on his hands and knees! He also finally cut his first tooth. Things change so quickly!

Random Stuff

Will and Jack often spend time in Mommy and Daddy's room on the floor while I'm getting ready or doing something. One day Jack must have rolled or crawled over to the DVD player and turned it off. Will came and told me, probably several times cause I don't always pay attention to what he's saying. I finally went in there and sure enough, Jack turned off the DVD player. It must be genetic from Randy that our children have an affinity towards electronics at an early age.

Carolyn probably will get a laugh at this one. On Go, Diego, Go! on Nick, Jr. there are the Bo Bo brothers that are always doing silly things. Well, we were watching the Mormon Tabernacle Choir's Music and the Spoken Word one day and Will asked me what they were wearing. I told him that the "daddy's," as he calls the men, were wearing bow ties. A few minutes later he referred to them as "bo bo ties." I thought it was hilarious.

Will likes to sing. He often sings, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star." He does not say, "How I wonder what you are." He says, "Hound I wonder what you are." Funny, funny. At least to me.

Jeans and Shovel

The other day I was getting Will dressed to go to playgroup. I laid out his shirt and jeans. Actually, I think that he might have picked them and laid them out. He's starting to pick out clothes, and he's doing a good job of matching things up. Anyway, after we put his shirt on, he said, "We need to put on my beads." I was thinking he was referring to his Mardi Gras beads. I'm like, "What?" Then, he said, "No. Beans." Now I'm really confused. As my mom says, "Does Will even know what a bean is?" If you don't know, Randy hates every kind of bean. Then, I realized he was saying jeans. I'm not used to him calling them that, because we always call them pants. One day I must have called them jeans, so he thinks he needs to call them that too. He picks up everything.

Randy went to Wal-mart and bought a shovel yesterday. As we went to playgroup this morning, Will asks, "Where's Dad's shooel?" It took me a couple of attempts to repeat what he was saying before I realized that he was saying shovel. It's amazing how children's vocabulary increases so dramatically at this age.

They Succeeded!

Those Picture People! I went in to get Jack's pictures done. He has only had professional pictures taken when he was 3 months, so I wanted to do them now that he's 7 months. Last time we got our pictures done, they came out with pictures all framed and matted and beautiful. We didn't buy any of those, of course, because they were way too expensive. But...today they did it to me again and said that if you buy one of those then you get 5 free sheets. So, they succeeded! I spent more than I should have. Of course I can justify the purchase in many different ways, but in the end I have a great picture of my little baby and several sheets too. I sure love my bug! (By the way, he did so good at his photo session!)

I Love My Bug!

I'm not sure why, but I refer to Jack as my "bug" sometimes. I always give him kisses and say, "I love my bug!" He will be 7 months on Wednesday. Time truly flies. He is in the 50th percentile for height and weight. He was closer to the 75th percentile for head size. He weighed 18 lbs 8 oz at his 6 month check-up. Will weighed only 28 pounds at that check up. Jack may soon surpass his brother.

Last night we are officially saying that Jack crawled. It was only an army crawl, but it was forward and on his tummy. He started sitting up on his own about 3 weeks ago. I'm so proud of him.

He sometimes spends the last couple hours of sleep on our bed. The other day when he woke up, he started talking to Randy. He was saying, "Hi Da da da da...Hi Da da da da." We know that he doesn't know what he's saying, but it sure was pretty cool. He definitely loves his Da da da da.

Skip in My New

A while ago, I played a CD with "Skip to My Lou" on it, and Will and I skipped around while we listened to it. Will loves to, as he puts it, Skip Skip Skip in my New (sometimes it sounds like he's saying nude).

Another mistake Will makes in saying something is the cereal Captain Crunch. He has referred to it as Crappin Crunch. It's the little things in life that make you smile. :)

What's That Sound, Mommy?

Will has an amazing sense of sound. He can hear everything. Like today at church, he could hear the squeaking door open at the back of the chapel and he turned to look to see who was coming in. He hears cars, me-mail trucks, garbage trucks, motorcycles, and airplanes outside. He always puts his hand in cupping shape up to his cheek (not his ear) and ask, "What's that sound, Mommy?" Sometimes I'll say that I don't know and he'll say that it's "probably" a motorcycle. He uses the word probably a lot lately. Anyway, he usually recognizes the sound properly. He knows the sound of the garage door opening, the refrigerator, the computer, and the list goes on and on. If he were in Elder's Quorum a couple of weeks ago, he would have asked Daddy, "What's that sound?" after Jack passed gas (several times) during the lesson. Apparently the men all got a kick out of it. Most be a guy thing.

Eat, Scream and Be Merry

Jack has started eating solid foods. He opens his mouth as we bring the spoon to his mouth and yells/squeels as it gets closer. It's like he can't open his mouth and just eat, he's got to make noise as he opens his mouth. I've discovered that if I don't let him get his sounds out first, the sounds will come out with food flying all over the place. He definitely is excited to be part of the eating experience at the dinner table now. I predict that he will not be a picky eater like his brother is. We will see.

Frosty the Snowman....bop bop bop bop

Will has been watching Frosty the Snowman, the movie, during the holiday season. He really seems to like it. He tells us that things make him all "wishy washy." He also sings the song to us. We were driving somewhere and as he sang it Randy and I got a good laugh out of it. This is Will's version of the song:

Frosty the Snowman was a happy (high pitched) jolly soul
With a pine cone something bop bop bop bop bop bop bop bop bop bawwwp

He has inherited his Dad's (and sometimes Mom's) ability to make up songs with whatever words and whatever tune that he wants to.