The Ohio Rapsons

Merry Christmas!!

2007-12-26T06:29:00.000-08:00

Christmas Morning
Unwrapping presents at my folks house
Christmas morning at our house
Christmas dress from Muck & Papaw
Opening her Lily Frog from Mommy & Daddy

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! We had a great time. The 15-17th we celebrated with the Rapson clan. Saturday the 22nd we celebrated with my immediate family, and on Christmas Day we opened presents at our house, then we went to both my Gma & Gpa Brads' and my Gma Burns' houses. It was very fun! Sophie was kind of a grumpus but she sure did look cute! Hope you enjoy the pics of our celebrations!

I was hoping Sophie would grow some teeth for Christmas, but no such luck. She is still our toothless wonder! Joshua has so many new toys he hardly knows what to do with himself. Bobby and I got ourselves a fancy new coffeemaker to keep our caffeine habit going!

We are thankful for all these things, but most of all thankful for Jesus, God's amazing gift to all of us. Hope you all had a great day and have a wonderful New Year!

Asking for your prayers!

2007-12-12T17:08:00.000-08:00

My sister-in-law Sarah's (married to my brother Andy for thse of you who don't know her) dad was diagnosed with acute leukemia last Wednesday. His name is Jerry Armstrong, and he is a beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend. He just had a big round of chemo, and he needs prayer. Please pray for his health, that the chemo has done it's job, that he will be free from infection and illness since his immune system is now pretty much non-existent. He has had a lot of pain from headaches. Please pray that that will subside. Please pray for his lungs, he has one partially collaspsed and breathing is difficult. Pray that he gets rest. Pray that he is HEALED.

Please pray for his family, for his wife Carolyn, who with his daughters Amy and Sarah is sharing caretaking duties. Pray for their emotional health and strength. Pray for his sons John and Mike. Mike just broke his back skiing and needs prayer for healing and relief from pain also. Pray for his 10 granchildren Jay, Lyndi, Emily, Allison, William, Amanda, Murrin, Drew, Clinton, and Alan, some of whom are too young to understand but all of whom are old enough to be frightened and worried.

I really encourage you to visit Jerry's website. It is a real encouragement and has updates usually a couple of times a day. You can visit it by clicking here or go to www.caringbridge.org/visit/jerryarmstrong.

Thanks everyone, I really, really appreciate it. Jerry & his family, some of whom are MY family, are on my heart and mind constantly and I know they covet your prayers.

New Pictures!

2007-12-04T08:47:00.000-08:00

Let her eat birthday cake!
It was a Cookie Monster cupcake, hence the blue!
Her 1 year portrait
My two cuties
If only she has some teeth to go with that tongue!

Well this one is for my friend Laurelle who complained to me rightly that I do not update this often enough! Sophie turned 1 on November 16th, so there are lots of new pictures to share!

The kids are doing great. Sophie still has no teeth and is crazy as ever. Joshua is learning to SPELL and his genius just knocks my socks off every day!

We just put up our Christmas tree Sunday. Of course SoSo will not LEAVE IT ALONE! She is a crazy girl! Joshua is having a ball with the Lionel train that runs around the tree.

Allright, Laurelle, are you happy now?? I'll try to do better!!

Trick-or-Treat Cuties!

2007-10-31T18:31:00.001-07:00

Choo Choo!
Lazy Ladybug
With Cousin Kate the Daisy!

Fall pictures!!

2007-10-22T15:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, I know, I never post on here any more. I AM GOING TO DO BETTER STARTING TODAY! So to make amends, I offer you some new pics of my kiddos!! WE went to Frank's Fruit Farm today and got pumpkins and had a great time. I'll post an update on the kids tomorrow!

Ohh the cuteness!!

2007-09-20T13:05:00.000-07:00

Sophia showed that balloon who was boss and cracked Joshua and I up!!

I'm Thiiirrrrrty!

2007-09-06T09:54:00.001-07:00

The cake had black icing
My friend Luanne helped Bobby pull off the party
The Supercousins!

Well the big birthday has come and gone and I survived! Bobby even managed to pull off a surprise party at church! I thought we were just gong for youth group as usual. So it was a really fun day! And I don't feel any older! Thought you'd enjoy some pictures of the fun.

Ok, I have been so delinquent!

2007-08-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

Dave, Kathy, and James Lewis!

Joshua with cars & bruised lip
Sophie proud of her banana mess
Joshua and Sophie are BOTH proud of her pulling up skills!

Sorry for the non-posting. I have no excuse but busy-ness!! There has been a lot going on! These children are keeping me occupied! Sophie is crawling and pulling up and being crazy!! She is EVERYWHERE! Her new favorite thing is to try and roll over and crawl away when I am changing her diper or drying her off after her bath. She's a streaker! She is also very opinionated and does NOT like to be told "no". Bobby's decided the word that best fits her is "tempestuous."

Joshua took a big fall at church yesterday and has a big, bruised bottom lip. And also a nice rug burn on his forehead. Poor guy! He was very sad!! It was HOURS before we could get him to take his hand away from his mouth. Very traumatic.

Well the latest thing that has happened to us is that Kathy & Dave Lewis have a baby boy! James Earhart Lewis was born Saturday the 25th at 9:27 pm. He is a little guy at 5lbs 6 oz. because he came 2.5 wks early! Silly James! He didn't even let his Mommy & Daddy finish their childbirth classes, which they were supposed to do tonight! HA! We can't wait to see james and Joshua is really excited about meeting his new cousin. We plan to go see them in Indy on Thursday.

Well that's all I have time for now...enjoy the pics!

IT's HOTTTT!!!!

2007-08-11T05:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted! I have been working hard on Mommin' It Up and all my computer time has been devoted to that. If you haven't seen it, we launched a new site design this week so check it out!

Another reason for my lethargy has been this terrible heat we've had here. Temperatures close to 100 and horrific humidity have plagued us all week! We've tried to stay in as much as possible (much to Joshua's chagrin), but we did venture out Wednesday to the new splash-themed park in Five Oaks with my friend Jessica & her three kiddos. I must've been concentrating on gabbing with Jess rather than taking pics, because none of my pics from that morning are very good, but here are a couple in which the kids at least look cute!

We had a little surprise Thursday morning when Joshua woke up with huge HIVES all over his legs and left arm. We are really stumped as to what could've caused them. I took him to the dr., and she said to just give him Benadryl, and just in case, no peanut butter for 2 weeks. NO PEANUT BUTTER!? What is the child going to eat?? I have got to get to the grocery and stock up on mac & cheese & chicken nuggets!

Sophie is trying to pull up but hasn't quite gotten there yet. She is talking alot and it is soo cute of course. I don't think she knows what she's saying, but she does make both the "da da" and "ma ma" sounds, in addition to a lot of other cute babbling.

Yesterday I had a crazy day with the kids involving lots of pee, poop, and throw-up, but I am going to save that for Mommin' It Up! So stay tuned....

I promise to do better about posting this week!

Sophie's Supermodel Pics

2007-08-03T17:38:00.000-07:00

Here are the pics the good folks at Evenflo took as part of Sophie's payment for her big modeling job. I wanted to share them with you because I thought they turned out great!

We've had a busy couple of days! Wednesdsay cousin Alan came over for a play date, and he & Joshua were very cute and had a great time! Yesterday we had a play date with some new friends, and today went to Grandma Burns' with cousins Kate & Andy Berry. Grandma was very impressed with Sophie's new crawling skillz. I, however, am impressed with Sophie's newly re-acquired

In other news, Bobby is about to go out with some friends, and just asked me what shoes he should wear. Since this has put cracks in my world view, I am going to go for now.

More Pictures

2007-07-31T08:18:00.000-07:00

Crazy hair after bath
Cousin Anna and Sophie
Joshua likes Papaw's fish
Muck and Sophie

I am including a few more vacation pictures for your viewing enjoyment! We really had a great time! We are adjusting to being back home, trying to get Sophie back on track with sleeping and Joshua back on track with FUSSING. He has become a whiney-booger the past few days. My mom's friend Rita would say I am getting my just desserts and that I was quite a whiner myself! Oops!

We're baaaack!

2007-07-29T17:31:00.001-07:00

Joshua w/ cousin Bronwen and Sophia at the Greensboro Science Center
Sophie takes a dip in Otter Creek, Va.

We arrived back in Dayton about 7 pm tonight after a wonderful vacation! We had a great time with my folks in Va., a super fun visit with Ellie & fam, and we got to see new baby Iris on the way home! It was sooo fun! Sophia also learned to CRAWL at my parent's which was exciting! She is now officially EVERYWHERE!!

I'm pooped so I'll just post a couple pics but more will soon follow!

Congratulations Matt & Kelly!

2007-07-21T05:31:00.000-07:00

I am super-geeky-happy that my friends Matt & Kelly Cooke became parents yesterday! Iris Claire Cooke was born at 2:37 pm and weighed 7 lbs 6 oz and is 21 inches long!! Matt & Kelly are thrilled and all are doing great. Because Kelly is an overachiever, she had the baby on her due date and did not have any drugs! She's like my own personal super hero. We're hoping to stop by Athens to see the little wonder baby on our way home from Virginia to see my folks. We are leaving tomorrow night, staying the night in Charleston, W.Va., and hoping to be at my parent's by noon Monday. I seriously cannot wait!!!!!! Toward the end of the week, we are going to take a side trip to Greensboro, NC see Bobby's cousin Ellie, & her family, Dan, Bronwen, & Piper, who we have never met! They haven't met our kids either so we are all excited.

All right, mucho packing to do, gotta go!

Oh, if you haven't voted for my story yet, please click here to to so before Monday at noon! Thanks!

Vote for ME!

2007-07-20T08:42:00.000-07:00

Hi all!
For those of you who don't know, I write a blog about MOTHERHOOD with my cousin Emily. You can find it at http://momminitup.com! Well, anyhoo, one of my posts is entered in a contest at another blog called PediaScribe. So from NOON TODAY until NOON MONDAY, July 23, you can go to www.pediascribe.com and vote for MY STORY!! It's called "When Motherhood Meets HAZMAT" by Jenny at Mommin' It Up. SO....I'd apreciate it!! Thanks!
And please tell any of your friends who wouldn't mind doing so also....

I know, he's a genius!

2007-07-18T08:22:00.000-07:00

Joshua has taken an interest in learning to write his numbers. Bobby was working with him on it last night and he was ever so proud of this "10" that he wrote all by himself! He's backed off on the wanting to read thing, so I'm glad he's still pursuing some sort of learning! He can make 10, 11, and 7 really well. I am sure Papaw and Uncle Charles will be very proud!

Supermodel Sophie

2007-07-12T18:54:00.000-07:00

Today Sophie became a professional model. I suppose it was just destiny for such a beautiful little girl! Ha ha! Here's what really happened: I joined the Evenflo Moms Research Group, so I could get paid for testing baby products. (Evenflo is headquartered here in the Dayton area.) Well, they sent an email asking any group members who were interested to send pictures of their babies to be considered for a photo shoot for the Evenflo Snugli (baby carrier). I sent So's pic in and she was chosen! Today we went to the photo shoot. We were there about 1.5 hrs and she spent 30-40 minutes in a Snugli strapped to a fake "Mommy" (a model who looked about 22 and was about a size 2. I dare say she hasn't had any kids! Sophie's weight about snapped her in half.) There was also a fake daddy to gaze adoringly at her. (He also looked nothing like her real daddy!) Sophie did GREAT! She was very cheerful and gave some great smiles and angelic looks. Everyone fawned over her of course. She is now extremely conceited. She is going to expect a personal hairstylist every day now! I don't know what I'm going to do to keep her humble. :) For her work, she was paid $50. Woohoo! A pretty good hourly rate if you ask me. I think as her agent I should get 20%. Ha! Who knows if So will model again. I guess she can do any gig where they don't want to put bronzer or eyeliner on her. As long as it's in the Dayton area. So, the opportunities will be limited. It was fun though! I am going to keep testing Evenflo products, because I get paid $75 for two hours, and I don't have to be in any pictures!

Splish Splash!

2007-07-11T05:36:00.001-07:00

Joshua & Sophia took their first bath together after we got back from the Lake on Sunday. It was a blast! They both really enjoyed it as you can tell. We are glad to be home although we did have much family fun! Sophie is allllllll messed up schedule-wise. She prefers to take her naps Lake-style, under a tree on a blanket! She won't nap now without being nursed or rocked to sleep, and has been waking up multiple times at night. So I am pooped. She is really close to crawling though and gets around really well scooting!

Last night we had a par-tay for our friend Chelle from church and her new baby boy Nathan! It was so fun! We cooked out even though we had to dodge some storms to do so.

Well we have a busy day ahead so I must get going!

Just Pictures!

2007-07-08T15:20:00.000-07:00

Sophia & Isabel Hartenstein

Here are some of the pictures from our adventures at Kiser Lake with the Rapson family. I've included the names of those in the photos (if they aren't obvious!) Most of them are of our nieces & nephews enjoying cousin time. I'll have more pics soon, I just ran out of steam tonight!

Squeaky Clean

2007-07-07T04:56:00.000-07:00

Here's Joshua in the dentist's chair after his first dental cleaning. They gave him the sunglasses to wear so the light they use to see in his mouth wouldn't hurt his eyes. He was a little nervous but did SO great! He greatly exceeded my expectations and I was very proud. And now his little toofers are all clean. This picture was taken on Thursday the 5th. Immediately afterward we left to go to Kiser Lake to be with the Rapson family at the cabin. We've been there ever since but Sophie and I are sleeping at home and commuting the 45 minutes back & forth each day. Joshua is sleeping in a tent with Bobby and loving being with his cousins. I'll post some pictures in a few days, right now Bobby has the camera with him at the lake. Speaking of which, Sophie and I better get dressed and ready to join the family there!

Visits from Friends

2007-07-03T07:11:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had a visit from one of my college friends, Matt Deroo and his lovely wife Sally, who I really enjoyed getting to know! Above is a picture of them with Joshua. Matt & Sally are on their "farewell tour" as they get ready to go back to China to teach English at the end of the month. They had both been there for several years but were in the States for a year after they got married. We had a great time and they were very gracious to let Joshua entertain them with his dancing and computer games.

Tonight one of Bobby's best friends (ok he's my friend too!) Adam is visiting us from Boulder, Colorado, where he moved in February. We are really looking forward to seeing him, and tomorrow he & Bobby are going to celebrate the 4th by going to see the "Transformers Movie". NERD ALERT!!!

I have included a picture of Sophie's looong hair. Her bangs are getting so long! I think I am just going to let them grow out, which is why I've had bows in it all the time. (Also because the bows are sooo cute!)

Cheese!

2007-06-29T14:09:00.001-07:00

I've been taking tons of pictures of Sophie the past couple days, she is just too cute! So I've inlcuded another Sophie collage. She is into sticking out her tongue now, which is hilarious. I pretty much have to put a bow in her hair now because her bangs are so long! I want to avoid cutting her hair as long as I can.

Joshua got a new mini-wind-up Thomas train set yesterday. It's really small, you can fold it up and take it with you. He loves it and requested that I take a picture of him with it, so I'm including it. Look at that crazy cheesy smile!

Today we went to the mall because it was rainy and muddy, so Joshua could play at the play place there. I guess everyone else had the same idea, because it was sooo crowded, Joshua didn't even want to stay! That's a first. We'll try again another day. We did get to see, by chance, Bobby's sister Ruthie and 5 of her kids! So it was fun to visit for a few minutes with cousins. Sophie's close cousin, Isabel, is too cute and also getting very big! We'll look forward to seeing more of them at the lake next week.

More fun at Wegerzyn Gardens

2007-06-26T18:18:00.000-07:00

Today we went back to Wegerzyn Gardens, much to Joshua's delight. We had a playdate with Mitchell Madewell (and Andrea!) and it was really fun. It was HOTTT though and we all got very toasty. Sophie decided to finally learn how to drink from a straw and drank most of my water! She would NOT give up that cup. It was so cute. You might notice she is drinking out of a McDonald's iced coffee cup. I PROMISE I just re-use the cups! It was ice water!

Cherry & Benji Fullam joined us at Wegerzyn also, and I ran into a friend from high school and her 3 kids. We had last seen each other at our 10 year reunion in September, when we were both HUGELY pregnant! Her baby Esther is only 10 days older than Sophie. It was great to see them!

Tomorrow my friend Krisha, one of the teens at church, is coming over to help me with the kids so I can get some more projects done around the house. She helped me out Monday and I got our upstairs hallway cleaned and vacuumed and Sophie's carpet cleaned. Tomorrow I hope to get the stairs vacuumed and the bathroom cleaned upstairs, and the living and dining room floors mopped downstairs. SHEW! My life is so exciting. But at least their aren't any BEARS in my driveway. Like in SOME PEOPLE'S. You know who you are!

Sacked Out! - Part 2

2007-06-26T05:16:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Joshua to match the one of Sophie from the other day. We babysat Joshua's cousins Drew, Clinton, & Alan Brads on Saturday and this is Joshua passed out on the way home! He was all cousined-out. Bobby took Joshua and Alan to the Miami Valley Rail Festival at Carillon Park. They really liked seeing all the model trains. But, as usual, Joshua was too afraid to ride the little trains. So poor Alan had to miss out as well! I hope Joshua toughens up soon.

Yesterday we got to spend some more cousin time at The Dudes house. Joshua was very excited to see them since they'd been in Virginia for TWO WEEKS! I had a very interesting time there because between my two children, I had to do THREE clothes changes. And I got peed on. But sadly, I did not have a change of clothes for ME!

Today we are returning to Wegerzyn Gardens and I am definitely taking the camera this time so hopefully I'll have some good pics to post tomorrow!

Busy, Busy

2007-06-22T13:47:00.000-07:00

Ok - the picture above is from the luau we went to at the lake a couple weeks ago. My friend Mel sent it to me and I couldn't resist sharing! I am wearing a rain slicker and Bobby an afro cause it was raining cats & dogs and we needed to stay dry! (I raided Bob's closet to get the rain slicker and the afro came from a youth activity at church.)

The past few days I have been reaaalllly busy getting Mommin' It Up! set up with Emily, so i haven't had much time to post. Our first week has gone really well! We are excited! Please keep remembering to check back and tell your friends to tell their friends about it!

The most exciting thing that has happened in the past few days is that my parents came home to Ohio yesterday! They are here just for a short visit for my dad's 45th high school reunion tonight. It has been so good to spend time with them. Last night, Bobby locked his keys in his car at a concert in Columbus, so mom kept the kids for me and Dad went with me to rescue Bobby. It was a good thing they were home! It was nice to spend some quality time with my dad, and I know the kids were glad to be with "Muck" (and vice versa I'm sure!) Bobby showed his appreciation by leaving a Cafe Mocha, Iced Cappucino, 6 donuts, and a Yogurt&Berries from Tim Horton's by my bed this morning. Yum! I shared the donuts with Joshua of course.

Well, that's about all I have for now!

Sacked Out!

2007-06-19T15:03:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Sophie sacked out at the Greene today (new fancy outdoor mall we have here for those of you who live out of town!) We met there today with Cherry & Benji Fullam so the boys could play on the choo-choo table at the Books&Co. and Cherry and I could catch up. Even though we went early, it got very hot by the time we left at 11:30! Joshua would NOT go in the water fountains they have for kids to play in (with complimentary towel service, might I add), so my Super-Mom preparations went to waste. I had taken him already dressed in water shoes, swim trunks, and even a swim diaper and of course brought extra clothes but it was all for naught. Oh well! Cherry and I had a great time and even bumped into another mom friend of hers & her little boy.

Later this afternoon Joshua met a new babysitter, Lilly. She is the daughter of a friend of mine and is going to start watching him while Bobby, Sophie, and I go to church on Wednesday evening. Joshua really liked her and was very sad when we dropped her off at home.

In other news, this drought we're having and Joshua's and my irresponsibility have about killed his little plants...oops! Fortunately he doesn't seem that upset about it! Hey, at least I'm keeping the children alive and well!

Mommin' It Up!

2007-06-18T09:22:00.000-07:00

Today I am proud to announce the launch of a new venture for me! My cousin Emily and I have started a blog to chronicle our Adventures in Motherhood. We'll be blogging about our kids, reviewing our favorite baby products, and rehashing some of our "Greatest Moments" in pregnancy and postpartum history! Please check in every day for new posts and tell all your mom friends about us!! We eventually hope to generate some income from this site to support my iced coffee habit and Emily's Vera Bradley habit. HA!!
So, on your mark, get set, GO check out http://momminitup.com and BOOKMARK it!

You'll also find a link to it on this blog, down on the right of the page.

Playdates Galore!

2007-06-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

We've had alot of fun playdates these past few days so I'm including lots of pics today! Thursday we went to Grandma Burns' and hit the park with cousin Kate. Friday Sophie got to hang out with Owen Presher, who is 6 weeks younger than her and the son of my friends from Asbury, Bryan and Beth. Beth and I have decided that the kids should be betrothed, so we like to get them together so they can start getting to know each other! (We also like to call them "O & So". It's the perfect couple nickname, huh? :) ) Then today we went to the park with Megan and Conner, and I got a great picture of Conner and Joshua at the end of their race down the slide! Again I took this with my phone (finally figured out how to email the pics to myself) so it's not the greatest quality but I thought it was so cute! This morning Sophie also decided to snuggle with Molly the Cat so I got a photo of that as well. Notice that she is wearing another fabulous clip in her hair! A flower this time. I can't stop!

Tomorrow we are looking forward to a great Father's Day with Bobby. Both my dad and Bobby's dad are out of town so we are spending the day with "just us".

Is there a Cute Baby Contest I can enter her in??

2007-06-15T13:28:00.001-07:00

I know I'm hopelessly biased, but I think this is possibly the cutest picture that has ever been taken. I took it with my camera phone when we were at Wegerzyn Gardens the other day. Since I can't seem to figure out how to email it to myself from my phone, I picture messaged it to my friend Lucy and she emailed it to me! Thanks Lucy! The quality doesn't seem to bad for a camera phone, and I just had to share it with everyone!

So in a Bow!

2007-06-13T14:52:00.000-07:00

Today I received 4 hair bows that I had ordered for Sophie from a website I found, http://www.bows2cute.com/. I am sooo happy with them! They were only $2 each so the risk was minimal, but I was a little skeptical. Would they stay in? Would SoSo mess with them? Would they really be as cute as the pictures? So far she has had one in for about 6 hours, and she doesn't seem to know it's there! And they are all adorable! I went a little crazy taking pictures since this is her first hair bow. So I made a collage of the pictures for you all to enjoy. You can click on it if you want a larger view. Shortly after I took the pictures, Sophie, who had been sitting up for 15 minutes or so, tumbled over and face planted in the grass. Those of you who have been to our house know we have 3 large evergreen trees so there are tons of needles in our yard. Well, So fell just right on one of them and it pierced her little cheek, so when I set her up there was a dot of blood. I was horrified but she was generally unscathed and never even fussed a bit! Shew!

Today we took a trip to Target (please pronounce it Tar-ZHAY everyone!) I had not been there since I quit work, which shows a huge amount of self control on my part. We got Sophie some Pampers bibsters and a digital clock for Joshua's room. I am hoping he will think the clock is cool and listen to me when I tell him he cannot get up in the morning until the clock says 7. He has been getting up between 6:30 and 7 and it is killing me because SoSo usually wants to be fed around 5, so by the time I get back to sleep it's 5:15, 5:20....and I'm TIRED! Although, I noted happily last night, I haven't heard my alarm clock go off since June 1 which is awesome!!!

Time to get the kiddos ready for Wednesday night church....So will of course be wearing a bow, for the first time in public. I don't know how we'll get past all the paparazzi!

Wegerzyn Gardens

2007-06-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

This morning Joshua, Sophie and I checked out Wegerzyn Gardens Metropark's Children's Garden. It was awesome! It FAR exceeded my expectations! There were fountains, a waterfall, a man-made creek and cave, a little house, a sand table, a dirt dig area, and a maze where you could find different musical instruments, a little pond, and of course lots of beautiful flowers and plants! Joshua had a great time and Sophie was so good, she just hung out in her stroller and enjoyed being outside. Unfortunately, although I DID remember the camera, I forgot the camera's memory card so I was unable to take any pictures! I did have my camera phone, but I have no idea how to get those pics off my phone and onto a computer, so who knows if they will see the light of day? Oh well! We plan to go back next week for a playdate with Mitchy and Andrea Madewell, so I will make sure and bring the camera and ALL its parts then. So, for your viewing enjoyment I have posted a couple of pics of the kids that I took yesterday outside in our yard.

Joshua is still on a "I don't want to sleep in my bed" kick. Last night he threw a big fit at bedtime, and after about 40 minutes of going in to check on him off and on, he finally said he wanted to sleep on the floor, so I put his pillow and blankets and all his things that he sleeps with on the floor and he went to sleep. He confounds me! Today I told him if he starts going to bed without a fuss, we will get him a car from the Cars movie, which he recently has renewed his interest in. I think we'll also get out the old sticker chart we used last summer and start with that again and see if that helps. At LEAST he's been doing great on the potty! He seems to alternate doing well at either sleep or potty, but not both. He is still the sweetest boy in the world though, and I am so proud of him! Yesterday we had our first reading lesson and we talked about the words "At" "Hat" "Bat" and "Cat". He did really well but he said he was done after about 7 or 8 minutes so we quit. I am going to let him take the lead for now.

My whole family is now in Virginia without me. Both my brothers and their families are there with mom & dad this week. I am sad! Bobby was unable to get this week off because 2 other guys at work already have it off. So if you are reading this family, have lots of fun without us! We miss you!

Weekend Fun

2007-06-11T06:33:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning I took Joshua (and Sophie got to tag along) to the city of Kettering's "Touch a Truck" day. It was at the middle school parking lot and there were tons of fire trucks, tow trucks, cement mixers, etc. The kids were allowed to get inside the trucks and climb around, there were firemen there - it was really neat! Joshua's friends Conner and Sean were going to attend as well. So I thought Joshua would really love it. But...I...was...WRONG. You see, in addition to climbing in the trucks, the kids were also allowed to honk the horns. So from the minute we got there, there were loud fire truck horns going off about every 20 seconds. Joshua totally freaked out! He is a but timid (some might say wimpy! I hope this doesn't send him to therapy one day!) He was crying and flipping out so much he made Conner cry too. So we stayed all of five minutes. We totally missed Sean because he hadn't even gotten there yet. So, we skee-daddled over to Tim Horton's so I could make it up to Joshua a donut. Megan and Conner joined us and that's what the above photos are of. I've also included a photo of Joshua holding his little sis. He is such a good brother!

Yesterday was "Youth Sunday" at our church and since Bobby is the youth leader, he was running the show. And he did a great job of course! He organized the worship, played bass and gave the message, talking about what we've been doing with the youth and where we want to go from here. I was very proud of him, since he doesn't exactly LOVE public speaking! All the kids did a great job too. Our friend Daniel wrote a video for them which we filmed a couple Wednesdays ago and it was hilarious! The whole church seemed to really enjoy it.

Today Joshua and I are going to start his reading lessons. We'll see what happens! He is also looking forward to one last visit from the Dudes before they leave for Virginia tomorrow. They'll be here soon so I'll finish up for now.

I don't know what day it is!

2007-06-08T11:22:00.000-07:00

Since I have been not working all week, I can never remember what day it is! Yesterday I was talking on the phone to a friend and I kept thinking it was Friday...but TODAY is Friday...and when talking to another friend about my week with the kids I kept forgetting what day I had done what. It was embarrassing! Hopefully I'll get myself straightened out soon!

The pictures above are a Sophie collage including some of her adventures in eating solid foods, and a couple of her baby buddies are included too - Brooklynn Saul and Jared McKiernan. (You can click on the collage for a larger view if you need to.) She loves playdates! I also included the pictures of Joshua the Gardener and his plants.

We have had a great couple of days...very busy! Yesterday SoSo and I hit a garage sale and got some good bargains and Joshua went to the choo-choo store with his cousins (a.k.a "The Dudes") Charles & James. Today the kids went to see The Dudes and Uncle Charles & Aunt Bethie so I could finish cleaning my bedroom, which was a giant task. I am glad it is done!

Last night we had a really fun visit with our friends Jon & Nikki McKiernan and their little guy Jared (aka Bug). Bug is only 3 weeks older than Sophie and they had a great time playing together.

Well that's all for now. The kids are asleep so I am going to try to catch a nap! Sophie didn't sleep so well last night so neither did I.

Fine Art

2007-06-06T11:37:00.001-07:00

Joshua is really into drawing and painting these days! He wants to paint just about every day. So, I have a LOT of Joshua original works of art and I thought I'd share a couple with you! The one on top is watercolor paints and the 2nd one is marker. Isn't he an artistic genius? He also wants to learn how to read. He asks me every day, "How do you read the words?" when he is looking at his books. So I am going to try to get some phonics lessons together for him. I have no idea what I'm doing, but he's smart and I am sure I can't possibly do any permanent damage to his IQ.

Right now the kids and I are on the porch. It is a really lovely day. It's about 70 degrees and sunny with a nice breeze...perfect! Sophie is swinging and hiccupping and having a great time. Joshua is playing with his sand table, and we just watered the plants we planted last week. We have little potted plants of marigolds, tomatoes, chives, and radishes. I need to re-pot them into or bigger planters, but as I am generally a plant-killer, I am nervous about doing so. I will take some pictures as soon as I remember to get the camera out of Bobby's car where it has been for several days!

Today I hired a babysitter to watch the kids so I could clean my bedroom. It is a HUGE (or as Joshua would say FUGE) mess! I only hired her for 2 hours and I should've hired her for 2 days! Nevertheless, I would say I'm about 3/4 of the way done, although the laundry will take me quite awhile! Hopefully I can finish the rest tomorrow. I am really going to try and be less of a slob now that I am home every day. So far this week I have cleaned the trunk of my car (also a FUGE mess) and Sophie's room. If I get my room done this week I will be very happy!

Last night we were very sad to say goodbye to my mom, aka "Muck" (that's Joshua calls her) as she left to join my dad at their mountaintop reatreat in Virginia for the WHOLE SUMMER! I am having abandonment issues....just kidding! But I will miss them so much. We are planning to spend a week with them near the end of July and I can't wait!

Well, I need to finagle Joshua into getting inside for naptime. More later this week with pictures I promise!

First day "off"

2007-06-04T06:37:00.000-07:00

Today is my official first weekday as a stay-at-homer. I wish there was another term for that but I can' t think of a good one. This morning when Joshua was sitting on the potty after just waking up, I said, "Joshua did you know Mommy's going to stay home with you all the time? I'm not going to go to work anymore. What do you think of that?" He said, "I did a great job sleeping in my bed last night." So....I don't think he QUITE gets it yet....

So far it's 9:38 a.m. and I have fed the children, done the dishes, and done my pilates workout. Last night before I went to bed I made myself a nice "to do" list, because I have so many things I want to do to get organized! I also told Joshua we would go to the park today, so I'd better get a move on! Even though it's still early, it's already time for Sophie's morning nap, and I am going to take that time to do the vacuuming....let the excitement begin!

Welcome Friends and Family!

2007-06-02T12:35:00.000-07:00

I decided to create this blog to keep you all posted on what we are up to as a family. So I'll start with a quick update on each of us. Bobby and I celebrated our 7th anniversary in March. Hard to believe! I for one am feeling really old...I only have 3 months left of my twenties! As of Friday June 1, I am a full-time stay-at-home mom. I was working part-time, 20 hours a week, and although I had a great work situation, Bobby and I felt like it was finally time for me to be home with the kiddos every day. I am REALLY excited about it! I've truly always wanted to be at home. So we are thankful to God for making this possible and providing for us!

Bobby is still at Lexus of Dayton where he has been working for 8 years. He is also the youth leader at our church and is very involved with his dad in Kiser Lake Sailing Club. He is a great daddy and husband and is also perhaps the busiest person I know!

Joshua turned 3 at the end of February. He is still as sweet as he can be! He loves trains, animals, music, being outside, and playing on the computer. He is FINALLY potty trained which we are very excited about! He loves his little sister very much and is so sweet to her. He loves to sing and I always tell him he's my favorite singer!

Sophia is six and a half months old. She is a very happy, smiley baby. She smiles so big, Bobby and I call it her "full body smile". She FINALLY started sleeping thru the night about a month ago. She still loves to nurse and is now eating solid foods as well. So far she really likes oatmeal, carrots, and sweet potatoes. She is fascinated by her big brother and our cats.

Here are a few pictures to enjoy! Check back often for updates!