A shout-out and some allergy suggestions!

First, a shout-out to my friend Kelli. Today she said something that made me very happy. She said she didn't think she'd ever seen two siblings where one looked so much like one parent and the other looked like the other parent. I have always thought that Nathan looks just like Jimmy and Isaac looks just like me. I don't mind when people say they both look like Jimmy or Isaac looks a lot like Nathan. But I did really appreciate her seeing them the way I do :)

I also wanted to let you in on some good information that my pediatrician gave me yesterday regarding seasonal allergies. We were celebrating Isaac's birthday with a trip to the doctor (just a check-up) and we were there for over two hours. That has nothing to do with it, though, I just wanted you to know what we (the boys and I) survived yesterday. Anyway, she told me lots of good seasonal allergy info. So here you go. Often, they don't show up until you're in your 40s, but if you have a parent with seasonal allergies, you're likely to develop them as well. My mom has allergies, so the doc suggested that the boys and I incorporate locally grown honey into our diets. Since my mom has allergies, I'll probably develop them too, and then there's the chance the boys will, also. Well, one way to build up your immunity to the pollen in your area is to eat honey that is produced in your area. I think the idea is that if we eat Missouri honey, since it's made from bees using the same pollen we're breathing in every day, our body will build up a resistance to that pollen. And when we go to the next state, we'll do the same thing with that state's honey. I doubt it's a cure-all for seasonal allergies, but it's at least worth a shot. You're supposed to incorporate two tablespoons of honey three days a week, and you can do it in lots of ways, including cooking with it. I don't think that baking counts, necessarily, but you could use it to sweeten tea, BBQ, or smoothies. Nathan really likes peanut butter & honey sandwiches. She also gave me a sheet of things to do if you have allergies. Apparently, the pollen is released at night so you should keep your windows closed at night, and you should change your pillowcase at least twice a week. Pollen gets in your hair and if you don't wash it before you go to bed, you'll be up close and personal with it all night, leaving you feeling horrible in the morning. Also, pollen sticks to your shoes so you should not wear your shoes around the house leaving a pollen trail.

Thankfully none of us currently suffer from seasonal allergies, but we're going to take the precautions anyway! I hope this has been somewhat helpful for some of you!

Happy First Birthday Isaac!

Today is Isaac's first birthday! He's been such a wonderful addition to our family. Isaac started life as an incredibly calm baby, which was a blessing because the first four months of his life were very transient! He is still almost always happy and smiley and bubbly, but he definitely has his own ideas about how things should be! Some of his favorite activities include scooting (he doesn't crawl--video to come once my camera battery is charged), loading up baskets or anything else with small toys, throwing things into the dishwasher and then retrieving them, playing with cars and other things with wheels, and doing basically anything that Nathan is doing! He says a couple of words--"mama," "dada," and "Tip Top," though none of them very often or on command. He can wave and at church he likes to clap and lift his hands to praise the Lord when he sees the people around him doing it! We are excited to watch him continue to grow and learn and become the little person, and then man, God has designed him to be!

When I told Nathan that it was Isaac's birthday, he immediately said "He needs a birthday hat!" As you can tell, these aren't hats. They are the boxes that some toys live in, but Nathan likes to pretend that they're hats (and Isaac likes this game, too).

And some pictures of the birthday boy. :) He was laughing and smiling the whole time I was trying to take his picture, but he kept throwing his head backwards so I never got a good face-on shot! Oh well, he's cute from any angle!

Grass Heads

I made grass heads with my Pre-K class last week and then at home with Nathan and a few friends, too. I had never done it before so I wasn't sure how they would turn out, but after just a week, they look great! Here's the before picture...
...and a week later they have full heads of "hair"!
Here's Nathan's grass head. It ought to be a little heavier on top in just a few days. If you are interested in grass heads, you can learn more by clicking here. Have fun!

Breakfast and the woes of cuteness

So this is what Nathan does while I'm putting Isaac down for his nap! I heard a lot of commotion going on in the dining room and had prepared myself to see hot cereal all over everything (but didn't really expect it because Nathan has finally grown out of that, for the most part). I was happy to come out and find only this: Nathan had invited friends to join him for breakfast. :)

It must be difficult being so cute when your mom always wants to take pictures of you. Nathan and Maggie decided to share the chair but weren't really excited about being photographed.

Such a Big Boy!

Nathan is growing up so fast, sometimes I feel like it's all happening in a blur. How is he almost three?!?! Anyway, here are a couple of new things about him. In the picture below, he's sitting on our porch reading all by himself. I mean, he can't sound out words yet, but he does love to read to himself and can do it for a really long time. We were having some friends over for lunch o Sunday and we were preparing everything while Isaac took a nap. It was raining and he wanted to go outside. We gave him the choice of staying inside and helping or reading, or sitting in the chairs outside and reading to himself while he watched the rain. He chose to sit outside and read and we were able to get a lot done while he did so! (I'm sure the temptation to run around in the rain was there since we weren't right there with him--we were watching from the window--but he probably thought twice about it because it was kind of chilly!)

And this is Nathan's new-to-us bed! Gulf Drive (where we live) had a huge yard sale Saturday morning and we got this bed for him. He and I went to Wal-Mart Saturday afternoon to pick out sheets and get a bed rail. He had the choice of animal, Mickey, Thomas the Train, or Pooh sheets (or, of course, just plain ones). I'm sure if you know Nathan at all you don't have to guess twice about which sheets he chose. Animal, of course.

This picture is just a reminder of how much he loves animals. That poster on the wall extends the entire length of the wall--great leftover from my teaching days!

Nathan and Dotters, who was given to him by the Easter Bunny. :) (Isaac got a giraffe named Tip Top, and "Tip Top" is one of the few things Isaac says well!)

Big Announcement!

Well, not that big. But Nathan is definitely potty trained now! We started a few weeks ago and he really did get it in a matter of a couple of days. The first day and a half was really rough but once he understood the cause and effect (this is the feeling I get and this is what happens if I don't go to the potty...), he's been doing a great job! He's had a couple of accidents, but nothing too major and nothing when we've been out. He still needs help getting onto the potty and turning on the water to wash his hands, but other than that, he can do it all by himself! It makes me even more eager to get Isaac potty trained and get ALL of the diapers out of the house, but I'm not crazy enough to try that right now! :)

Toddler egg-dying party!

Last week Jimmy and I went temporarily insane. Neither of us had school or work on Friday, so we decided to host (OK, by "we" I mean "I" and he didn't disagree with it) a toddler Easter-egg-dying party. Then on Wednesday night we also agreed to babysit the sons of two friends because they realized that their daycare would be closed and they were both scheduled to work. The boys are 2 and 3. So, we had four boys under the age of 4 in our care from 8:00-4:00 and a house full of toddlers (the others brought mommies) for a while in there, too. Here are some pictures from the egg dying, including pictures of those either too young to dye, or not interested! It really was a lot of fun! (In case you're wondering, we all went to bed early that night because as you can imagine, naps didn't really happen, and we slept quite well!)

Playing Outside

Here are some pictures from a couple of weeks ago when Nathan and some of our neighbors were playing outside. It's so wonderful to have neighbors Nathan and Isaac's ages! The top is a picture of Noah who ran up to me when he saw my camera and said "cheese" and looked right up into the lens, so I guessed he wanted me to take a picture of him. :)

This sweet little girl is Peyton. She is about 14 months older than Nathan, and they like to pretend that they're mother and son (they like to call each other that, too). Right before this Peyton had been fixing Nathan's hair. Then he eventually obeyed his "mommy" and sat in her lap for a picture.

Blue-eyed Isaac