My Brother's Keeper

I don't have pictures for this entry, but the best stories of the week. There were 2 times that Josh really showed his love for Jack by being a helper during "tough" times. 

The first happened a few days ago, when I placed a bottle in front of Jack. This really makes him mad, but also motivates him to move forward a bit on his stomach. (the goal is to crawl...) I kept repeating, "c'mon Jack, do you want your bottle?" After about a minute of this, with Jack really letting me know how angry he was at me, Josh took over by grabbing Jack's arm and dragging him to the bottle. Josh was helpin' a brutha out.

Today, at a moment when I was feeling overwhelmed with all that's expected of me this week, along with the daily needs of my family, Josh came through with the perfect tension-breaker. Again, he was "helping" Jack. After leaving the room for a minute with Jack snacking on banana puffs in his chair and Josh playing nearby, I returned to find Jack's tray completely covered with the entire amount of puffs we own. Jack innocently looked up at me as if to say, "mom, the coolest thing just happened and I have all the food I could want," while Josh stood next to him looking very proud of his helpfulness. 

These instances happened at the exact moment when I needed to laugh or just smile. Sometimes I forget to do that during the craziness of our days here.

Silliness

This is what happens in a house with hardwood floors, but without furniture.

We love music in our house! This is just one of the reasons.

Mama's Blag

Okay, what is a blag? It's a word I totally stole from my very cool friend Juliann, but it's a 

blog that brags. So, this is my blag from the weekend.

All during nap time (2 short hours), I relocated 2 plants in the side yard, filled my 4 hanging baskets, and planted a tree... all by myself.  Well, Dan lowered it in to the ground, but I dug the giant hole and all that goes with planting a tree. 

Yep, this is my tree. I have no clue how to rotate it in blogger, so any helpful hints would be great.  Just turn your head to the side.  One more blag... I planted the tree the same day I went to my weight-lifting/spin class.  This is one tough mama, who is pretty sore today!

New Trick

This is short and sweet, kind of like Jack. But he has a new, favorite trick. Pay attention. It also happens to be Josh's favorite truck sound. So now they really do speak the same language!

Thank You for Today!

My favorite things about warm weather:

The return of bare feet! 

...and green grass.

Getting outside and getting active.

Josh is so close to the pedaling-thing.

Rosy cheeks, kissed by the sun. 

(mama promises to use sunscreen from now on)

Introducing babies to grass. Jack is not a fan yet.

Spring... finally

After the many, many months of snow, warm weather is coming our way. It was still snowing last week. "Why do I live in Utah when I don't love the winters here," I ask myself at the end of every summer. But despite the snow's attempt to bring any Spring, my new little plants made their presence known last week. These are just a couple that were planted in November, just one week before the major snow season began.  I am impressed with how tough they are, and excited to see something other than mud and rocks in my yard.

 

Just Jack!!

If any of you were watching TV in the 90's, you probably remember one of my favorite characters from "Will and Grace." (my Jack is not named for the gay, best friend Jack!) My favorite phrase of his was "Just Jack," and the way he'd frame his face with his Jazz Hands. 

I figured that since Jack can't walk, "talk", or spin on the floor, he needs his own blog time to match Josh's.

Jack was the coolest kid in California, with his bleach-blonde hair and sweet sunglasses.

Jack has this amazing interest in music. It's not like Josh's crazy dance-response, which is so cute, but a real intense listening interest. During conference he would be whining, then stop as soon as the choir started singing, and gaze at them until they finished. Who knows... I was singing the during his entire pregnancy in my choir. (8 1/2 months at the concert)

Having a big, open mouth is typical for Jack. Now, it is accompanied by shrieks of joy. Oh, and lots of drool!

Come on, you know these are the best pics to keep around to show off to his buddies in high school!! Again, open mouth.

He's cute and funny. We'll keep him.

The Visuals

Here is what I saw last night!!

(in case the description wasn't good enough)

Funny

If you are a good visualizer this will give you a good giggle.

Now that our comfy couches are downstairs, and the rug is gone, the living room floor is completely bare. I walked in the front door, after taking King for a walk, to find Dan break dance-spinning on the floor. Off to the side was little Josh, in his footy-pj's, trying to do the same thing. It was one of those moments that you wonder if you walked into the right house... then you realize, oh yeah, that's Dan.

New Beds

   This week we finally moved to our nearly-finished basement, but the best part of all was moving the boys in together. Jack had been our room since birth, and it was time to cut the strings! (no, if there had been room he would have been out earlier like Josh was at 6 weeks) Anyway, Jack is in the big crib now and finally staring rolling from back to front, but only his sleep. Whatever works for you, Jack.

 This is Josh's "big boy" bed. The best things about this bed are, 1) he can't fall out because it's a box with a mattress inside that sits just on the floor. The 2nd thing is that when Jack is done with his (short) stay in the crib, the bed flips over and becomes a low bunk bed. (with just some extra parts added) We love that this room is big enough to hold all the toys they own now, and will still be big enough for the ones they get for b-days...

   Josh loves his bed. Though we have had some funny things happen during this transition. The first night it was ready for him was also exciting because of the new, plush rug we bought for the room. Josh has fallen in love with soft carpeting since getting it in the basement. We kept telling him that it was  his new rug! When I checked on him later that night, he was not curled up in his new bed, but on the floor with all of his blankets around him.

 

  The other night as I checked on him, I found a little naked body all rolled up, wearing socks, with his favorite blanket pulled over his head. I didn't add that picture, but you can imagine it and giggle!

It must be said: "He's got the whole world, in his hands..." Sing along!