Animal Sounds

My first video post. I hope it works

Can You Believe How Big He's Gotten?

It's been so long since I've been able to post pics! So here I'll make sure to post a few to keep everyone happy, but first I wanted to show everyone how big this kid has gotten! He 21 mos. old and is wearing a 2T. He has only been with us for 10 mos. so it's sad that he's growing so fast, but better than not growing at all, right?

Here is a pic of JJ in our hotel room in Almaty. He was 11 mos. old in this picture.

And here is a pic of our boy today...

Crazy - Isn't It?

Two Toots Are Now One

No spell check again - what's up with that?

Here in Toledo we have a cute little restaurant called Two Toots Diner. It is a very small place with booths all around a center counter that has a train track with two toy trains that deliver your food right to your table via the rail cars. It is a very novel concept and the place actually has decent food with plenty for the kids to look at and keep themselves entertained.

So today my cousin Carrie (who has one of those sweet jobs with like every holdiday off) called me at work and said she was going to pick up JJ and Aunt Bea for lunch and I should join them over at Two Toots. The plan sounded good to me and I happily drove over to the diner to meet them. We ate our lunch without much excitement and JJ behaved as best as he could for the amount of time we were there (1/2 hour wait to even be seated).

We were just finishing our lunch when a mom with 5 little ones came in and sat at the table behind us. She had brought organic bread, cheese, and butter with her and asked the restaurant to use these items when making the children's grilled cheese. She even brought organic ketchup for the french fries (I still don't get why could they eat the fries but everything else had to be organic? Shea - you probably know the answer to this one). The kitchen promptly complied with the woman's request and sent the table's food out on one of the little trains. As the train approached our table, JJ lunged for the cars and grabbed the engine and slammed it down, derailing the entire train. On the floor beneath our feet was the specially made food...totally destroyed. Oh yeah - and the train was broke too.

The poor woman was trying to maintain her composure, but very obviously upset by what had happened. One waitress was trying to fix the damaged train while the other tried to explain to the woman that they would make new food right away. The mother was having none of it and said that this was special food and if it wasn't in too bad of shape she would take it. Carrie and I looked at each other, not knowing what to do next and wondered if the lady really wanted to have the food that was laying on the floor. Our question was answered a second later when the mother came over to our table and asked for the food. She totally took the food off the floor and fed it to her kids because in her words "this was all the bread I had, this was specially-made food, the kids are hungry and we have to go."

I felt awful. Is it really better to feed your kids food off of the floor of a dinky little diner just to make sure they are eating all-organic? Would grilled cheese on wheat bread have killed them this one time? I really don't know. And I'm still not sure if the train is back in working order yet. Until then, they'll just have to call the place One Toot.

Mama's Don't Let Your Babies Play With Make-Up

I have a vanity in my bedroom that I have had since I was about 12. It is where I get ready each morning – where I do my hair and make-up.

JJ loves the vanity. He insists on crawling onto my little stool and sitting by himself, grabbing each and every piece of equipment sprawled in front of him.

Last week I noticed that one of my brushes was wet and the bristles were all sticking together (the blush brush as a matter of fact). I assumed that JJ decided sucking on the blush brush was a good idea and figured he had somehow gotten it wet using his mouth.

I laid the brush out to dry and resumed using it for normal make-up brush activity the following morning.

Fast forward to yesterday’s conversation with Jerret:

Jerret: Did I tell you what JJ did the other day?

Me: Ummm….what?

Jerret: I found him in the bathroom with one of your make-up brushes. He was sticking it in the toilet and “painting” the inside. When the brush got wet, the color started coming out and he was coloring with it.

Me: WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING? I’VE BEEN USING THAT THING EVERY DAY SINCE!

Jerret: So. It’s only toilet water.

Now I don’t need to tell you readers that the conversation didn’t end there. I was horrified. In what world is that an ok thing to do and not tell your wife that she is putting fecal matter on her face? Just wondering.

My New Blog

I've added a link for a new blog I've recently started. This blog isn't going anywhere, but it is really JJ's blog and I need to keep it PC so that he has something he can look back at when he's older. So if you are interested in my deepest thoughts and random musings, check out my other blog at www.brandnewmama.com

He's Home!

Jerret finally arrived home last Friday. I was actually working at the time, and a limo picked him up at the airport and drove him home, only to realize that he couldn't get in the house! His keys were inside the house, and our keypad to the garage door stopped working a few days after he first left for China. He ended up calling me at work and I came and picked him up and we proceeded to pick up JJ from Aunt Bea's house.

I was so happy that I got to be there when the boys frist saw each other. To say that JJ was excited would be an understatement. I called Bea when we were on our way over and she and JJ were staring out the window waiting for us. She said that when JJ saw our Jeep pulling in he first began calling for me, saying "Mama," but as we got closer and hopped out of the car he saw Jerret and began jumping, literally jumping, and hitting the window grinning from ear to ear. Actually, he was more like laughing hysterically at the idea of his daddy being home - finally! Jerret was ready to cry and said that he can't believe JJ has grown so much in the past month. He said that his motor skills are so much further developed then they were when Jerret left. I thought he was crazy, but after some thought, babies do grow so fast in such a short time. And I was here watching it for the past month, so to me he seems like the same kid, but if I were away for a while, I'd probably see it his way.

We had a very realxing weekend. I was under strict orders from Jerret that we would do NOTHING all weekend. He said he just wanted to be able to chill out in his own house for a while, so that's what we did. Saturday we woke up and went to Bob Evans for breakfast followed by haircuts for the boys, but that was the extent of it. Back home we went and everyone took long naps. When we woke up I was ready to do something - anything. I asked Jerret if he wanted to go to the Sat. night service at church - No. Dinner? - No. Go pick up dinner? - No. We ended up calling and having pizza delivered.

So Jerret and JJ are attached at the hip for the moment. JJ will not do anything without his daddy. Whenever he needs help with something, it is Jerret who has to help. When it is time for bed, Jerret must be the one to lay him down. I wonder how long this could last? I might get myself a nice little break!

Here are some pics of Jerret in China.

In case you couldn't tell, that's him in the Ohio State hard hat. Jerret is a mechanical engineer and was there (in China) to install a new glass machine. Most engineers sit behind a desk drawing all day. Not Jerret - he LOVES to get dirty. (As if you couldn't have guessed).

This is a picture of Jerret and his work friends at the Great Wall. This was Jerret's third time visiting, but I guess that's something that just doesn't get old. Oh - that is him in the middle with the crazy hat. He forgot to pack a warm jacket for the trip, and according to him it was *freezing* that day, so he ended up buying the one he has on in the pic, along with the "cat hat" as we like to call it. He said the hat cost him $1 and I am beginning to wonder what kind of "fur" they used to make that thing.

P.S. - the stupid spell check isn't working in blogger right now, so please forgive my misspellings. I really can't spell that well. - but obviously I can rhyme......