Texas Schleichers

Pillow Houses and Babies

2012-02-10T21:05:00.000-06:00

We had fun one day this week making a "pillow house." We collected most of the pillows we could find in the house, and then Ian wanted to "build the house" on top of Momma and Daddy's bed. It was such a squishy hit that we had to recreate the pillow house multiple times this week.

We got to spend a lot of time with babies this week! My friend, Sarah, (not pictured) brought over her six-week-old baby, Owen, on Tuesday. Ian was fascinated by Owen! Ian kept asking to hold Owen, and Sarah said that was okay. Owen even fell asleep in Ian's arms! The next day, we baby-sat another friend's 11-month-old, Philip. We took Philip with us to Toddler Time at the library. Ian held Philip on his lap almost the entire story time and kept giving Philip kisses on his head. For a 2 1/2 year old, Ian seems pretty interested in and gentle with babies. We can't wait to see him as a big brother in just a few weeks!

Kim's belly keeps growing as we approach the third trimester! (It looks like I'm still about six weeks bigger than I was while I was pregnant with Ian. Check out this 32-week pic from March 2009.) I'm so thankful to still be feeling good, and so far I haven't had any foot swelling like I did last time. This coming week, we'll go in for another doctor's appointment, including the glucose screen.

A few videos

2012-02-03T18:01:00.000-06:00

I wasn't able to place these video clips into the last blog post due to Blogger being uncooperative! Hope you enjoy them!

So you can see exactly the sort of things Ian likes to do in the mud ..

We talked a few blog posts ago about how much Ian likes to rhyme. Lately, he's been playing a "rhyming game" of sorts. Sometimes, we'll ask him to think of words that rhyme with a word that we think of; other times, he'll think of the starting word. Either way, it turns into a funny game with lots of made-up rhyming words. :) (And, no, I have no idea why Ian was standing by the trash can ...)

Ian has been VERY interested in letters lately. He now can identify all of the upper case letters of the alphabet with high accuracy, although he still gets R/K and M/W confused at times. He also can recognize numbers 0-9, though still mainly thinks 9s are 6s. He LOVES "reading" cereal boxes, ads, signs on the road, etc. We'll hear him spelling out the letters individually and then ask, "What does THAT spell?" In this example, he's reading "SALE" and "INCREDIBLE!" (backwards).

We've also mentioned how much Ian loves story. At least 30?? times a day, Ian asks us to tell him a story! He loves ANY story that we make up or any Bible story. Lately, he's also been very interested in fairy tales such as "The Three Little Pigs," "Rapunzel," "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," "Hansel and Gretel," and "Jack and the Beanstalk." During his "rest time" (he still rarely falls asleep in the afternoon), he loves to tell himself stories, too. I tried to video the monitor so you could get a glimpse at the riveting stories Ian tells himself. :) Right after this story ended, he told an elaborate story about friends Mr. Kyle, Ms. Aliceson, and Caleb. :)

Happy birthday, Daddy, and other fun!

2012-02-03T17:15:00.002-06:00

We've been so thankful for the RAIN that we've had almost every day for the past few weeks! One particularly rainy day, Ian discovered the mud puddle in the "garden." Boy, was he excited!!

It was fun to dig, drop, and jump in all of that mess!

By the end, Ian was covered in mud from head to toe. He could easily have been selected to be in a Tide commercial! And it would've been a successful commercial, too, as the clothes came completely clean. :)

Ian was very excited to make Daddy a few birthday cards for his birthday on Thursday. He mainly wanted to draw spirals, circles, lines, and zigzags ...

... but he also decided to draw himself! The drawing certainly doesn't look impressive, but when you see the labels of all of the parts he intended to include, it's precious! He was also proud to draw a letter "I" all by himself. The only other letter he can successfully draw is an "O." He's proud of that, too! :)

We met some friends at a new indoor playground called "Wonderwild" on Thursday morning. It was a GREAT place (especially with the rainy weather!). Ian's favorite parts seemed to be the train table (not a big surprise), the slides, and the "ball pit."

Whee!

Ian liked to go down the slide at the same time as his friends (like Caleb B.), perhaps just so he could say, "On your mark, get set, GO!"

Our once-timid Ian wasn't afraid at all about climbing up to the very top of the play structure and then sliding down the tube slide. (On a side note, though, our once-friendly Ian is now shy even around people we know and is reluctant to talk or wave at times! Silly boy!) You can also see Ian's friends Caleb B. and Caleb L. at the top of the structure, along with a small child who was screaming because he got stuck trying to go up. :)

The playground also included one large bouncy structure. The slide was very steep, so Ian preferred to go on his belly! :)

This is the ball pit Ian really enjoyed. He and Carson had fun throwing (and trying to catch) the balls.

Jump, Caleb, jump!

After our family went out to dinner at a local Thai restaurant, we decided to continue the family tradition of going to Chuck E. Cheese's to play some games. Ian was a little unsure of the "rides" that jumped and bumped around, like this monster truck ride.

But he did really like this helicopter ride that went up and down if he made the pedals spin.

We tried the kiddie skee ball game,

but Ian much preferred playing the adult version. When we left, he told us his favorite thing was, "playing skee ball."

Honestly, though, he seemed most interested in this motion ride (though not while he was on it). He had this intrigued yet panicked expression through most of the ride and then finally asked to come off during a particularly bumpy time because "my ears feel stuffy." Once he got off, though, he didn't want to leave that area and continued to want to "watch the movie" while other people were riding the ride.

Matt and I most enjoyed the competitive basketball game. Unfortunately, Matt beat me EVERY time. (Maybe I can use my big belly as an excuse??? :))

When we got home, we sang to Matt and enjoyed eating brownie mallow bars together. What a fun birthday! We thank God for a wonderful husband and daddy like you, babe!

January fun

2012-01-27T21:36:00.002-06:00

We had fun making a Valentine for our shut-in friend from church, Mrs. W. I first used masking tape to make a heart on card stock. Then, Ian enjoyed using the watercolors Aunt Amy and Uncle Jason gave him for Christmas to paint over the masking tape heart. He thought it was GREAT to peel off the tape, too.

Here's Ian's finished product. He also made one that said "IAN." :)

We also had fun making Mrs. W. (and US!) some chocolate chip cookies. Of course, Ian is eager to help at every step along the way, including grinding the walnuts, dumping in the ingredients, turning on the mixer, and sampling the dough.

Since he's such a big fan of singing, Ian thought making paper towel roll kazoos was hilarious!

We got lots of rain this week, which meant Ian got to wear the rain boots from Grammy and Papa quite a bit. Besides splashing in the puddles while it's raining, Ian really loves watching water rush into the storm drain.

Our friend Melissa spent part of a day with us this week. It's always so fun to watch the two of them play together. They built with blocks,

and then we made potato-print Valentines together. I was really impressed with Melissa's idea to make butterflies out of two heart-shapes and then make a body with her finger dipped in paint. (Enlarge the picture for a better view.)

Ian most enjoyed "swirling" the hearts (spinning the potato around in a circle) so they didn't look like hearts at all when he was done. :)

I was SO proud of the "LOVE" potato stamper I carved ... until I realized that I needed to make a mirror image. Ha ha! I also got a big kick out of what Melissa chose to type on her Valentines ... "I want it to say, 'Peace on Earth!'" she said.

We went outside to play with bubbles. First Ian blew bubbles for Melissa to pop with the wand,

then they switched roles.

I gave both Ian and Melissa the option to either play or help make lunch. They both eagerly asked to help make the pigs in a blanket. They pressed down the dough, and Melissa helped to roll the hot dogs and cheese inside. Yum. What a fun day!! Thanks, Melissa, for coming over to play!

We can finally share some good news with everyone. You already know that we are expecting a little one in May. You already know that Kim's sister, Amy, and Matt's brother, Jason, are expecting two boys in June. But you may not know that Kim's brother, Andrew, and wife, Sarah, are expecting a little one in August! They shared the news with us at Christmas (when Sarah was about 5 weeks along), so we all posed for a belly shot along with a head count of who's inside. :) Now that Andrew and Sarah have had their first OB appointment, they know they have just one on the way! What a blessing to go from 1 grandchild on Kim's side to 5 in just a few short months! God is so good!

If you're interested in following Amy and Jason's pregnancy journey, feel free to check out their NEW blog at http://schleicherfam.blogspot.com/.

We just passed the time when our second baby would've been born if the Lord hadn't already taken him/her home to heaven. Of course, it was sad to pass January 21st and be reminded of our loss, but we certainly celebrate our victory over death through Jesus ... and the gift he has given us of another baby on the way. Thanks to many of you for your thoughts, prayers, cards, and sweet words over the last week. :)

Sisters' Weekend

2012-01-19T20:24:00.003-06:00

I was so excited to have the chance to fly up to Billings, Montana, to spend a weekend with my sister, Amy! We have had one sisters' weekend before this one -- when I was pregnant with Ian, Amy flew down to Houston to help with last-minute preparations in the the nursery, etc. Once Amy and Jason announced that they had twins on the way, I thought about how fun it would be to go see and help her! Thanks to the encouragement from my wonderfully supportive husband, I got to do just that!!

I arrived on Friday afternoon and got to spend the last half-hour of Amy's school day with her and her sweet 4th graders. After some yummy smoothies and a yummy dinner, we started sorting through maternity clothes and playing games.

On Saturday morning, Amy treated me to a fabulous pedicure ...

... before we started the process of registering for baby stuff at Target! How fun! We finished up sorting through and organizing her maternity clothes in the afternoon and had time for more games after dinner!

After church, we headed out on a shopping trip to do more registering (this time at Babies 'R' Us), shop for maternity clothes at Kohl's, and get some yummy yogurt treats at Billings' Best Yogurt!

People at church and school kept commenting on just how alike we look. :)

The pregnant sisters -- at 22 weeks and 16 weeks.

We finished up the weekend with beginning a blog for Amy & Jason (I think it'll be up & running soon ... after she puts on the finishing touches) and playing some games! What a wonderfully relaxing weekend with my sister and dearest friend ever, Amaloo! We can't wait to meet her & Jason's twins in June!!

Matt did a wonderful job taking care of Ian while I was gone! He planned some fun, special activities and kept the house running smoothly. Ian handled the time away from Momma (first overnights away ever!) beautifully! My sweet husband even had some clever signs and artwork along with some flowers on the counter to welcome me home. Thanks, babe! :)

Since I've gotten back, Ian seems to be very intrigued with my growing belly. The first day back, he put his hand on my big belly and said, "Is this how you always be??" And tonight before his bathtime, he said, "Momma, you have a big, big belly!" Ha ha! We were thankful that our 23-week appointment with our ob-gyn today went well. We heard the baby's heartbeat (and have felt the baby moving each day, with kicks that are getting progressively harder). We thank God for how smoothly this pregnancy is going!

Back Home in Houston

2012-01-12T19:22:00.001-06:00

We've settled back into life in Houston! The weather outside has been beautiful most days since we've been back. We spend some time each day enjoying the sunshine. Ian likes "driving" on his new steering wheel attachment from Grammy and Papa.

Kim's belly keeps getting bigger and bigger. I feel the baby moving around most days, which is a lot of fun (and also very comforting as Matt and I both still feel awfully cautious about this pregnancy). I'm still feeling very good and have been experiencing my first-ever (painless) Braxton-Hicks contractions. (I never had any during my pregnancy with Ian.) Many friends have commented on how my stomach "popped out" during Christmas break. I laugh and say that I don't know if I should attribute that to the baby or to my mom's good home cookin' over Christmas. :)

We got together with friends Eric, Carrie, and Melissa over break for a belated birthday celebration for Kim/Christmas celebration. As always, Ian loved every moment with "big sister" Melissa. :)

Ian has been more interested lately in playing board games like Candyland, Busytown, or this Go Fish game. We generally modify the rules so that Ian doesn't have to wait so long between turns. :) Ian thinks it's super fun to catch these fish and then sort them by color.

Recently, we tried a new art project idea. Ian generally doesn't choose a craft/art project as his first choice of how to spend his time, but he really enjoys it once we start and asks to do more and more. I had seen a neat marble-rolling art project at the children's museum and then realized we don't have ANY marbles in our house (yet!). Grapes ended up being a perfect substitution.

We then tried potato printing, which Ian really liked!

It was equally fun, though, to put paint on his hand and make his own hand prints. :)

One day, we spent quite a long time outside chasing bubbles. For a while, Ian used a long stick to help reach higher to pop the bubbles. He seemed to most enjoy "tackling" the bubbles that neared the ground level.

Kim found this toy crane by someone's trash can on garbage day. It has been a huge hit with Ian, and we can't find anything wrong with it! One man's trash IS another man's treasure!

Our neighbor Gloria gave Ian a s'more kit for Christmas. Ian thought the s'more was super tasty and enjoyed systematically eating all three s'mores he had ... first, he pulled the marshmallow out string by string,

then he ate the chocolate, and finally he ate the graham crackers. :)

Since right before we left for Albuquerque, Ian has been able to ride his tricycle for more extended distances. One of Ian and Kim's favorite pastimes is biking together in the cul-de-sac. We'll switch off thinking of landmarks (like Ms. Gloria and Mr. Joe's mailbox) to bike to. Ian thinks it's a lot of fun (and Kim does, too!). Of course, we also have to stop often to put treasures like acorns, leaves, or pine needles in Ian's tricycle trunk. :)

What else is new with Ian? Well, here's a list of his current obsessions:

1. Telling stories -- He says a gazillion times a day, "Tell me a story!" He went through a phase where he'd say, "Tell me a story about a (boy, girl, dump truck, table) named Flaggy." Everything needed to be named Flaggy. Then, he branched out to different names. Now, his most often request is, "Tell me a story about when I was a baby." When he doesn't specify, we usually tell him a Bible story or some sort of fable (about a boy that learns to share, takes naps in the afternoon, or goes poop on the potty ... ha ha). :) The funniest thing is listening to Ian tell himself stories before falling asleep. Sometimes he'll retell stories that we told him. Other times, he'll make up his own. The other night, I heard, "And Joseph told to Mary, 'Do you have an orange?' And Mary said, ' No. I need to go to the store. Is the store fun?' And I told to Mary, 'Yes, the store is fun.'" It cracked me up.

2. Singing -- Ian sings ALL the time. He loves his Veggie Tales Sunday school songs CD, and he still sings Christmas carols daily. He still doesn't participate in singing at Toddler Time or Sunday school, but he'll sing every word of the songs once he gets home. One of his newest trends is stopping after he sings one word of a song, so we can sing the next word ... and then we can switch off singing the whole verse.

3. Rhyming -- He thinks rhyming words are hilarious. Often, he'll change song lyrics to words that rhyme with them. Or, he'll crack up by saying, "Fly, fly" instead of "Bye, bye" when we're leaving.

4. Giving Momma's tummy kisses and hugs -- He'll say, "I want to kiss the baby." It's super cute ... but now we're working on NOT having him show Momma's belly button when wanting to "kiss the baby" in public. :) In general, he's just a very affectionate kid who loves to give US hugs, kisses, and zerberts, too!

5. Not taking a nap -- He's been sleeping longer and longer at night, so he just doesn't seem drowsy in the afternoons. He will lay in his bed for a 45-60 minute "rest time" after lunch, but he almost never falls asleep anymore. (But Momma's glad to still have the chance to take a "rest" herself while Ian is resting, too!) He's definitely transitioning, as he still gets pretty grouchy most nights from about dinner to bedtime. :(

6. Somersaults -- He loves looking through his legs and then going all the way over!

7. Trains -- It's the first thing he requests to play with in the mornings when he wakes up!

8. Sandbox -- He loves to play each day in the sandbox, too, and will stay interested for up to an hour most times!

9. Construction vehicles ... still!

10. Puppets -- He has a few puppets that he LOVES and he'll often respond to requests better if the PUPPET asks (instead of Momma or Daddy). Almost daily, he'll tell Kim, "Momma, talk to the girl," meaning that he wants Kim to make a girl puppet we have talk with him.

What a fun, funny, challenging time it is having a 2 1/2 year old! :)

Christmas in Albuquerque

2012-01-11T19:39:00.001-06:00

We had a fantastic 10 days in Albuquerque with Kim's mom and dad (Grammy and Papa), Kim's sister and Matt's brother (Amy and Jason), and Kim's brother and sister-in-law (Andrew and Sarah). As usual during time with family, Ian was spoiled by having a playmate at every waking moment! :) Matt and I were spoiled, too! We were so grateful to have the chance to relax, take naps, and play games between eating large and super yummy meals! Thanks, Mom and Dad!

We arrived in Albuquerque on Kim's 33rd birthday. Kim's mom had prepared one of Kim's favorite meals (a yummy chicken-almond stir fry) and the cake Kim requested almost every year growing up (German chocolate). What a treat to be with family on my birthday!

Ian was a big fan of helping to blow out the candles.

Grammy got out lots of Kim, Amy, and Andrew's old toys and books for Ian to play with. Two of Ian's favorites were this car mat and a marble roller Kim's grandpa had made.

Ian also loved these shooting spinners. By the end, he got the hang of how to do it himself!

A modified version of the board game "Crackers in my Bed" was also a big favorite. (Thanks for teaching Ian the game, Aunt Amy!)

Trigger, the horse Kim's grandpa made, also got a lot of use. :)

There were plenty of other playing opportunities even without toys, including doing sit-ups with Uncle Jason,

playing piano and singing songs with Uncle Jason and Grammy,

and being read to by Aunt Sarah and others!

Ian loved getting a squeeze from Aunt Amy!

Ian also enjoyed watching some of our old Disney cartoons on video! They brought back great memories for us "kids," too!

Ian was a little too young to be able to fully put together the puzzle Kim's Uncle Mike made, but he still enjoyed playing with it with Uncle Andrew.

One night, Jason and Papa made us all homemade wheat pasta while Grammy fixed her homemade spaghetti sauce!

Daddy, Momma, Grammy, and Aunt Amy worked with Ian to make a gingerbread train. Ian was proud to show it off to everyone that came over!

We enjoyed a yummy ham dinner/lunch on Christmas Eve!

Matt and Jason worked together to light the luminarias ...

... while the rest of us got to enjoy playing Stone Age inside. (We are completely hooked on this new game and, of course, had to order it right when we got back home. Have you tried it, Gottschalks??? You'd love it!)

Grandma's official cookie taster in action ....

After arriving home from Christmas Eve worship, Ian sampled hot (warm) chocolate for the first time ever.

It's safe to say he enjoy it quite a bit. :)

On Christmas morning, Ian helped Grammy and Papa stuff the turkey

and then put it in a turkey bag to cook while we went to church.

a whole-family picture: Matt, Kim, Ian, Jason, Amy, Grammy, Papa, Sarah, Andrew

We enjoyed a yummy lunch and then took naps before gift-opening began.

Kim was excited to give Sarah (and Andrew) her first-ever completed rag wreath. It was relatively easy to make and turned out well. :)

After opening the tongs that Amy and Jason gave him, Ian was excited to use the tongs to help open the rest of his Christmas gifts!

He enjoyed the cut-able food ...

... and loved the chance to play games on Grammy's Kindle. (Drew, Ian said, "There's an Angry Bird, Momma!" when we were in the store the other day! Ha ha)

One morning, Kim, Aunt Amy, and Ian headed to the park for sliding and throwing pine needles in the air.

We drove to Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge as a family to see all of the birds. Unfortunately, they had received quite a bit of snow the week before and the roads were still unpassable. :( At least we made it to the visitor center where we saw a few birds on the ground.

Each morning we were in Albuquerque, Ian found a treat inside a stocking titled "Grandma's Favorite." Soon, Grammy will have to add an "s" to the end of the word "favorite." :)

Ian loved being silly with Uncle Andrew!

Playing games with Grammy, playing the Wii with Uncle Andrew (which was an awesome gift to our family from Drew and Sarah ... thanks, guys!),

and roughhousing with the uncles kept Ian entertained.

Matt, Jason, and Andrew continued their biennial Frisbee Fiesta competition at a nearby playground.

It was a close battle that ended with Jason taking first, Matt taking second, and Andrew taking third. :)

Aunt Sarah played with Ian on the playground during a lot of Frisbee Fiesta. :)

Then we all gorged ourselves at Tucano's Brazilian Grill (all-you-can-eat meat! Yum!)

Our last evening in Albuquerque was spent playing games (Ian liked Fruit Ninja, while the rest of us preferred Guesstures),

eating a great meal that Ian and Andrew helped fix,

and enjoying Drew's signature dessert .. chocolate souffles!

Thanks for the great time, family! We love you guys!

Christmas Carols

2012-01-11T13:55:00.002-06:00

Here are a few of our favorite Christmas carols Ian can sing. Enjoy!

Silent Night & Angels We Have Heard on High

Hark, the Herold Angels Sing

Go, Tell it on the Mountain

Jingle Bells

December Fun in Houston

2012-01-10T20:56:00.001-06:00

Sorry we've gotten so behind on blogging. :) Enjoy these pictures from before Christmas, while we were still in Houston. COMING SOON ... our fun time in Albuquerque as well as what we've been up to in January! :)

Some friends told us about Santa's Wonderland, an amazing Christmas light exhibit near College Station, TX. We decided to check it out!

Ian thought it was very fun to take a hay ride through all of the lights!

They even piped in Christmas music for us to enjoy while taking in the festive lights.

The tour ended at "Santa's Town," where we got to warm up by the campfire (yes, it was actually a chilly night!),

walk through a "light maze" (this was possibly Ian's favorite part of the entire night. He probably walked through the lights 8 times!),

meet Frosty,

and even "see snow."

These Texas kids were easily fooled into thinking that the bubble globs were actually snowflakes. :) Thanks for the great idea, Lueckemeyers! What a fun family evening!

A few members of our small group, plus one of Matt's coworkers and her kids, went caroling at a local nursing home.

The residents sang along on most of the Christmas carols but seemed most excited about the hugs and high fives from the children after we finished singing.

Of course, we took a little time to be crafty in December. My friend Aliceson had seen a neat idea on Pinterest that used handprints to make a Christmas tree.

Ian got the hang of it very quickly and, of course, was excited to do it HIMSELF!

Later, Kim added a trunk and a star to the tree.

Finally, Kim added some sequins as garland and some pictures of Ian throughout the year as ornaments. I think the finished product came out pretty well, and we'll certainly enjoy looking at it for years to come!

Kim also had fun sewing a couple of gifts for Christmas -- some tooth fairy pillows for two precious girls! Hope you enjoy them, Melissa and Hannah! :)

Ian was a HUGE fan of starting Advent boxes this year. He seemed equally excited by the candy in every other box as he was by the family activities in the other boxes. Some of his favorites, though, seemed to be looking at Christmas lights in a local neighborhood (Prestonwood) where every block is decorated according to a theme and going with Daddy to the doughnut shop to choose (and then eat!) his own doughnut!

We had the privilege of meeting a very kind lady from our church this month, Mrs. W. She is a former 3-year-old Sunday school teacher who still has a huge heart for kids! Kim and Ian plan to make monthly visits on her in the nursing home. The first visit included singing Christmas carols and getting to know each other. Ian was thrilled that Mrs. W. gave him a small stuffed monkey before we left. He slept with that little monkey for days afterward!

Matt and Ian did a great job of helping Kim celebrate her birthday a little early. We went to Bullrito's for a yummy lunch and then each chose our own dessert at RJ Goodies bakery. Kim went with a chocolate brownie cheesecake, Matt tried the normal cheesecake,

and Ian went with the double-decker cookie with TONS of icing! What a fun birthday celebration!

Stay tuned for some videos ...

Our ultrasound!

2011-12-19T21:53:00.001-06:00

a side profile of the baby (face on right) with his/her hand in the air

another side profile picture, this time hand up by baby's face

We were excited today to have the chance to see our little one

again!  The ultrasound tech said that we have "a mover" since

the little one kept changing positions and moving his/her

hands and feet.

Kim still can't feel the baby moving much but has felt a few

"flutters" here and there.

The baby (who weighs 10 oz.) is measuring 19 weeks, 3 days,

which just means that he or she is a few days bigger than

what would be expected.

The doctor is still saying the baby's due date is around

May 14 or 15.

The baby's heartbeat was 136, and the tech was able to

capture some really cute ultrasound "pictures," especially

some profile shots. She had to move really fast to capture

the pictures when the baby was in the right position.

As many of you know, this 19/20 week ultrasound is known

as the anatomy check, and we were grateful to hear that

all of baby's body parts were present and looked normal.

The tech WAS able to find out the baby's gender but she

didn't tell us or write it in our chart since that's what

we requested. :)

Thank you for your continued prayers for this little one's

healthy growth and development.

Please praise our God along with us for His handiwork!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ...

2011-12-07T13:35:00.001-06:00

Ian was very excited to help set up the Christmas tree!

After the lights were up, Ian was also very excited to help unpack the ornament boxes ...

... and find just the right spot for each ornament!

This is the first year we've done Advent boxes (with little treats inside) for Ian. One of Ian's favorite treats so far was getting to watch "The Grinch that Stole Christmas" on TV while eating popcorn.

We took time last week to cut Ian's hair using the new hair-cutting "cape" that Grandma and Grandpa gave him for Christmas. Ian seemed very relieved to not be as itchy, and Kim was very grateful that Ian didn't have to keep stopping to look down and wipe hair pieces off of his arms and legs. :)

On Saturday, we went to John Wesley United Methodist Church's "Walk-Through Bethlehem." We had gone last year and enjoyed it, so we decided we needed to go again! Ian liked it last year, and LOVED it this year. I think it just might become a family tradition. One highlight (that will certainly make our northern friends chuckle) was seeing (fake) snow (that had been brought in). Ian loved picking it up, throwing it,

and, of course, eating it.

The church had many "stations" where kids could experience the different sights and sounds of Bethlehem. Ian touche a goat and sheep,

tried to grind grain,

and sampled some bread.

He loved seeing 7-week-old "baby Jesus"

Ian made a few crafts, like this beeswax candle. (He also made a coin, a coin bag, and a clay candle holder.)

It was fun to press olives and sample olive oil ...

... as well as "go shopping" for lentils and beans at the market.

The wisemen stopped for a quick picture.

Another highlight for Ian was riding the camel -- first with Daddy,

then with Momma, too!

He also got to ride a donkey all by himself.

While Momma and Daddy took turns waiting in the ride-an-animal line, the other parent watched Ian play on the church's fun playground.

The last station was "the inn" where we got some lemonade and a snack. What a fun morning!

We're thankful that our pregnancy continues to progress well. At our doctor's appointment on Dec. 1, the doctor immediately found baby's heartbeat using the Doppler device. We'll go back in for our "big" ultrasound on Dec. 19, when Kim is right at 19 weeks along. We don't plan to find out this baby's gender either since we so much enjoyed being surprised with Ian.

Ian absolutely loved looking at the fetal models Matt brought home from school (which Matt had used while teaching biology). Ian attached himself to the 32-week-old fetal model and took "her" everywhere. It was endearing to see him rock the baby, "tickle" and cuddle her, and sleep right beside her. It was a little scary, however, to hear him ask if he could put the baby inside the dryer! Turns out he has a few things to learn before being a big brother. Ha ha!

For a long time, Ian has been intrigued by his Play-doh scissors. He was thrilled to learn a few weeks ago that his Play-doh scissors could cut paper, too. A few days ago, I finally decided to let him experiment with "real" (kid) scissors. He made the fringes for these fun Christmas thank-you notes and absolutely loved it!

The next day, while I was cutting coupons, I asked if he'd like to "help." Boy, was he excited about that! :)

Daddy and Ian made a caboose from a Lowe's Build and Grow workshop kit. (The Lowe's room was too full to do it there, but we happily brought it home.) Over the next few weeks, Daddy and Ian will go to Lowe's to make a coal car and then an engine. How exciting!

On Sunday, Kim and her friend Aliceson hosted a table for our church's Advent by Candlelight. Neither of us had ever been before, but we were excited to give it a try.

Thanks to Aliceson's creativity, our table turned out very nicely. :)

It was such a blessing to have a "girls' night out" with great friends -- Julie, Martha, (Kim), Tanya, Jenn, Aliceson, Carole, and Kati.

One of my favorite parts of this Christmas has been hearing Ian sing Christmas songs. In this video, he sings the "Christmas bells" song that Grandma taught him while she was visiting. He knows at least seven or eight other carols, too -- some of them, he surprised us and knows multiple verses of! We'll see if we can get some of those on video, too. For now, enjoy this one carol, courtesy of Ian. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-12-02T14:16:00.001-06:00

We were thrilled to have out-of-town family come see us for Thanksgiving! Uncle Jon and Aunt Chelsea arrived first. Ian warmed up to them right away and was thrilled to have two more "playmates" in the house!

He loved having Jon and Chelsea read him stories before nap- or bedtime.

Uncle Jon and Aunt Chelsea gave Ian an early Christmas present ... his very own, kid-sized tennis racquet! Uncle Jon (who teaches tennis lessons in Lincoln, NE) gave Ian his first tennis lesson on Sunday afternoon! Here's a part of Ian's forehand instruction ...

What a patient teacher ... and a very excited student!

Uncle Jon gives Ian a high five before Aunt Chelsea takes a turn playing tennis with Ian.

Turns out playing tennis in the house with a balloon can be fun, too! :)

On Monday, we went to Meyer Park -- one of Ian's favorite parks in the area.

On Monday night, Jon, Chelsea, Matt, Kim, and Ian went mini-golfing together -- Ian's first attempt at mini-golfing! He loved it and got so excited when his ball went into the hole.

The hardest part for Ian was waiting his turn. So, he made his own fun by finding rocks to sit on,

getting an up-close look at the scenery, or moving ahead to a different hole.

The hole that involved the golf balls floating down the water was Ian's favorite hole by far!

What a fun evening!

On Tuesday, Jon, Chelsea, Kim, and Ian went to one of Ian's all-time favorite spots in our area ... the Woodlands Children's Museum. Ian had been telling Jon and Chelsea that his favorite part of the museum was "the wheels" (the cogs seen above). It's funny how his "favorite" part is always changing!

As usual, though, he also enjoyed time in the rubber mulch,

the water table,

and the sand table.

Uncle Jon helped Ian with the parachute

and with using the microscope, too.

On Tuesday night at dinner, Ian was holding his hands up on either side of his head, imitating a picture he had seen in the Baby Bible. Kim mentioned that, when Ian held his hands up like that he looked like a pastor giving a blessing. So, Uncle Jon decided to teach Ian how to make the sign of the cross and say "God bless you." It was hilarious! We were laughing so much that Ian kept doing it over and over and over the whole time we had company. :)

Uncle Jon and Ian started a "pickle game" while they were together.

On Tuesday night, Grandpa and Grandma arrived! Ian warmed up to them immediately and was thrilled to now have two MORE "playmates" to play with and show his toys to!

Ian enjoyed having Grandma read him books at nap- and bedtime, too!

On Wednesday night, Chelsea and Kim made calzones. Yum! While Chelsea was living with us, Chelsea had helped Kim make calzones for small group. So, Chelsea knew JUST how to help ... and this second time around, making the dough and calzones seemed much quicker and easier!

Ian and Grandma took care of making the Snicker/apple salad for the meal!

After dinner, we celebrated an early family Christmas. Ian was SUPER excited to open gifts!

Here's a cute monkey hat he got from Grandpa and Grandma.

Here, Grandpa is helping him put together a neat construction vehicle puzzle.

Grandma helped Ian unwrap some of the big gifts.

We had fun playing a modified version of the Candyland game that Uncle Andy and Aunt Beth sent down. (Thanks, guys, for the game as well as for the fun stickers and neat socks!)

Uncle Jon and Aunt Chelsea gave Ian a fun hidden-pictures-in-Bible-stories book ... complete with a magnifying glass!

We were so happy to have everyone together for Thanksgiving dinner! We missed having friends Eric, Carrie, and Melissa with us, though, since Melissa didn't feel well. Carrie still sent over some yummy turkey cupcakes and delicious caramel apple pie!

Ian helped Daddy "carve" the rest of the turkey.

The rest of our whole-family time was spent ...

reading books,

swinging,

going on walks,

singing songs,

laughing at Ian's antics,

and, of course, lots of game-playing.

Matt's parents also graciously took our whole family out to dinner on Friday night. We went to Gringo's, a yummy Tex-Mex restaurant with FREE ice cream at the end of the meal!

Jon and Chelsea had to head back home early Saturday morning, but Grandpa, Grandma, Matt, Kim, and Ian went to the Houston Museum of Natural Science to see the Butterfly exhibit. Matt had been there before, but this was everyone else's first time.

Ian enjoyed watching the butterflies from a distance, but he got a little nervous when it seemed like the butterflies might land on him.

Grandma, Grandpa, Matt, and Ian challenged each other to a bug-trivia game show after our time at the butterfly exhibit.

Grandma taught Ian a little more about bugs.

Before we left the museum, Ian had a great time at the "pollinating exhibit" where he had to match up the block shapes (square, star, circle, and triangle) with the corresponding flower center.

When we got home, Grandma and Kim started a fun Christmas project ... making our own rag wreaths with Christmas fabric.

Here's the work-in-progress ...

Thanks for the great time, Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Jon, and Aunt Chelsea. We have lots of great memories of our time together and can't wait to see you again soon. We love you lots!

These past couple of of weeks ...

2011-11-21T07:52:00.001-06:00

We went with friends Brooke and Jenn to a nearby park that has a butterfly garden. After playing on the playground, Brooke and Ian enjoyed looking at the pretty flowers and pointing out the butterflies!

A family from our church hosted a train open house last weekend. Almost the entire second floor of their house is a replica of a Colorado railroad. It was amazing! The family gave us a listing of all of the other model train builders in the area, too, so we can visit more trains!

We had some friends over one day last week. Don't the boys look so grown up?? (Eli, Micah, Ian, Caleb B., and Caleb L.)

Kim spent some time organizing the toy room. Since we moved our chest of drawers into the nursery, we could move the shelf with fabric bins into the toy room. My friend Kristy gave me a GREAT idea for how to label the bins. It's been SO helpful when Ian is looking for a toy or when it's time to pick up the toy room!

We also hung up a few bulletin boards to display Ian's artwork. When we were at Hobby Lobby a few weeks ago, Ian picked out the fabric that's hanging on the back of the bulletin board. (If you can't see it very well, he chose monkeys and giraffe print.)

Our biggest news of the past few weeks, though, was finding out our "double siblings" (Amy and Jason) are expecting!! What an answer to prayer!! We excitedly got a care package together for them, including this homemade sign for their nursery (thanks for the great idea, Lauren!). Right after we got the care package together, we found out even more exciting news ... Amy and Jason are expecting TWINS!! Maybe we'll need to make another sign. :) We thank God for His wonderful gifts to Amy and Jason, and we're thrilled to become Uncle Matt and Aunt Kim for the first (and second!) time. We're also excited that these cousins will be born so close to the time our baby will be born. (Amy is due at the end of June.)

Ian is two and a half!

2011-11-09T20:37:00.002-06:00

As a typical two and a half year old, Ian likes to be involved with everything and, preferably, do everything himself! He wanted an active role in making apple cake for small group last week. He cored/peeled/sliced all the apples we needed, plus one extra since it was just so much fun! He also chopped the walnuts all by himself with the nut grinder. Then, he "helped" with dishes. In the video, he'll tell you about his experience. (Momma's favorite part is when Ian mentions that he used an "apple corer/peeler/slicer.")

Our friends, Kati and Mike, watched Ian while we went to our 12-week prenatal appointment. Ian even got to help with baking at their house! Kati had Caleb and Ian decorate these cupcakes with icing squeezed out of a syringe. Fun! I'm sure Ian had fun decorating, and he certainly had fun eating the cupcakes!

Ian has an active imagination. If we sing "The Farmer in the Dell," for example, suddenly he's pretending that the farmer is sitting next to him in the car and coming along to the grocery store. Because he likes pretending, he loves it when Momma or Daddy comes up with a new game. One day, our living room rug got a wrinkle in the middle. We decided that it should be a tunnel for Ian's cars and trucks.

With a little help from a broom, we were able to push the vehicles right through!

My cousin, Marcie, suggested participating in the Hands on Play Challenge for the month of November. (See The Imagination Tree for more details.) The activity that most interested ME was the "Fireworks Spin Art Paintings." Ian helped to choose the paint that went on the 6x6" card stock.

He was very excited to spin the salad spinner as fast as he could.

We checked often to see what the painting looked like ...

... and then Ian spun some more.

He LOVED this project so much he did it seven times! Here are his finished pieces.

On Monday, we celebrated Ian's half birthday. At lunch time, Momma sang Ian happy half-birthday,

and Ian blew out a birthday candle.

After dinner while Momma was tutoring, Daddy took Ian to Baskin Robbins to use his half-birthday ice cream cone certificate. Ian chose "the colorful one with green, blue, and purple" (Wild Ragin' Sherbet).

Here's a video of Ian singing a portion of what may in fact be the most annoying Sunday school song ever. You may know the song as "I Will Call Upon the Lord," but the Sunday school calls it, "Karate Jesus." It is Ian's current absolute favorite song. It will be a happy day when this stage passes. :)

What else is Ian up to at the ripe old age of 30 months?

He has just learned to pedal his tricycle, though he gets tired after pedaling about 20 feet!
He LOVES routine. Ian will let someone know if he/she has broken protocol and will generally include the word "normally". The other day, Ian told Matt, "Normally, we put banana peels in the trash can, Daddy," after Matt set his peel by his plate.
He loves to listen to his Sunday school CD but lets us know, "This is NOT a Sunday school song" if it's not one we sing regularly or "I don't like this song" if it's not one of the two songs on the CD he really, really likes.
He's a very compassionate, tender-hearted kid. He loves kissing babies in real life and in pictures. He's very bothered when someone seems upset, sad, or hurt.
He loves to know how things work. He's currently obsessed with speakers. In grocery stores, he has to find WHERE the sound is coming from. One of his favorite "games" is to find the small speakers on each of his electronic toys.
He has a fascination with time but doesn't know what it really means. He'll ask, "What time is it?" When we answer him, he'll say, "What does that mean?" He also likes to ask things like, "Is it tomorrow? Is it today?"
He only knows about 8 letters of the alphabet really consistently but is very interested in what letters SPELL. If he sees a word on someone's t-shirt, for example, he has to know what it says!
He continues to be very opinionated. If we ask him to do something, he'll often initially respond, "It's not time!" or "I'm not comin.'" Given some alternatives, though, he'll generally comply. :)
He loves to giggle! Sound effects (especially things that sound like someone passing gas) are hilarious to him! He also laughed for days about a funny squeaking noise that a toilet made when he flushed it. If something that he says makes someone laugh, he'll repeat it over and over to try to get the same reaction each time.

We love you, little man!

Changes to our Nursery

2011-11-03T21:33:00.000-05:00

With all of the talk about Ian's big boy room, we've neglected to tell you about some of the changes that we've made to the nursery. First of all, it's important to note that there's officially ...

because this crib is ...

(May 15th is about a week after big brother, Ian, will turn three!)

We went in to our OB-GYN today for our twelve-week prenatal visit. It
was such a joy to see the baby's heartbeat on the ultrasound machine
and to picture JUST how big 6.1 cm really is! If you look carefully at the ultrasound picture, you'll notice that you can see the baby's hands (which look like two bright ovals on either side of the neck since they're closer to the ultrasound scanner). The baby is now measuring 12 weeks, 5 days based on his/her size.

We have already gone into the doctor a few times to check up on this little one. Understandably, we've been much more cautious and guarded this time around. Our doctor has been wonderful at reassuring us throughout these scary first weeks, even letting us come in about every two weeks for a quick ultrasound. We were able to hear the baby's heartbeat at our eight-week "official" ultrasound. At that point, Baby measured 1.79 cm. and his/her heartbeat was 172 bpm. And, it's crazy to think that just 2 weeks ago, Baby measured 3.4 cm. Our doctor has reassured us that our chances of miscarriage are now less than 1% since we have reached the 12-week mark.

Kim has been feeling good throughout the pregnancy as long as she gets a nap most afternoons. :) Her energy is already starting to come back as the second trimester quickly approaches.

Kim is definitely getting bigger more quickly this time around. Check out Ian's week 12 picture for a comparison.

We are so thankful to the Lord for the goodness and kindness He has shown to us. Thank you for keeping us in prayer as we together rejoice in this
tremendous gift the Lord has given!

Happy Halloween! :)

2011-10-31T22:10:00.001-05:00

Daddy and Ian built a monster truck from a simple kit that a local home improvement store provided. Daddy started pounding many of the nails, but Ian finished them off. It was good teamwork, and Ian is proudly holding the truck (complete with racing wings).

We carved our pumpkin on Friday night. Ian was very interested in every step of the process.

Once Daddy made the cuts around the stem, it was Ian's turn to pull the top off.

At first Ian was a little tentative about reaching in the pumpkin to gather the seeds.

Before long, though, he was up to his elbows in fun. Ian was a very good pumpkin seed gatherer--this made Momma happy seeing as she is a big fan of the seeds after they are roasted.

Momma and Ian combined to draw the face on the pumpkin.

Daddy and Ian were the actual pumpkin carvers.

After warming up on the eyes and nose, Ian even took a turn flying solo while working on the mouth.

The finished product!!

Ian's grandparents really know how to help Ian celebrate Halloween. Grandpa and Grandma sent a card, stickers, and some Thomas the Train fruit snacks! (Ian wanted to eat them all in one sitting. When Momma said that Ian had to wait to have another bag until the next day, Ian remembered to ask for the fruit snacks right after he woke up the next morning!) Grammy and Papa sent a card, stickers, and $5 for Ian to buy his own Halloween candy. Ian thought it was fun to shop in the candy aisle and seemed most excited about his sour gummy worms (no, Aunt Amy, Momma didn't do ANY coercing!). :) The above picture shows Ian with his finds!

On Saturday, we went to the Tabernacle Experience at a local church. They had a replica of the tabernacle set up. We thought it would be a self-guided tour, but when we got there we found out it was a 60-minute audio tour on which we'd go to various stations, all the while being "quite and reverent." Probably not the best place for an active 2-year-old ... :) So, Matt and Kim took turns going through the stations. It ended up being meaningful and interesting, and Ian really liked the extended time on the playground.

On Sunday, we went to another local church's "Trunk or Treat" (a seemingly popular tradition in Texas).

All of the car owners had designed a game and then offered the children candy (many with Bible verses attached) afterwards. Ian enjoyed placing the rings directly ONTO the cones. Who needs to throw them?

He fished for Bible verses,

but his favorite station was actually "catching" candy!

Ian was excited to see his friend Caleb the Pizza Slice at the Trunk-or-Treat.

Ian was a little young for the Angry Birds catapult,

but he sure enjoyed watching others play the game.

Ian seems to be following in Daddy's footsteps and has a mean soccer ball kick!

The goalie was nice enough to give Ian candy even though Ian got the ball past her.

More ring toss!

Plinko, anyone?

Jack the Banana Split Dog was a huge hit!

So was popcorn!

Ian was very excited to meet this other firefighter at the Trunk-or-Treat. This boy came over to Ian at least three separate times to say hi. :)

And, tonight, Ian went Trick-or-Treating around our neighborhood. Our first stop was next door to Ms. Cindy's house. Even though we rehearsed beforehand, Ian completely forgot what to say when Ms. Cindy answered the door. When we tried to prompt him, he immediately moved to the "thank you" portion. Funny!

Ian thought the talking alien candy-giver was very intriguing.

By the time we got to Mr. Steve's house a few houses later, Ian had the "trick-or-treat" and THEN "thank you" routine down!

Ian got quite a haul of candy and has been happy to learn brand-new vocabulary words like "Reeses Pieces" and "Whoppers" and "Twix." it's safe to say he has a sweet tooth just like his Daddy and Momma. :)

Fun with Friends

2011-10-26T15:56:00.002-05:00

My friend, Carole, planned another "art in the park" activity for her son (Carson), Caleb, and Ian. After some fun play time on the playground, the boys were very attentive as Carole told them about pumpkins and showed them in a book how pumpkins have vines and get bigger and bigger until we use them to make jack o' lanterns. She even gave them each a mini-pumpkin to hold and explore during her lesson.

Then the boys got to practice dipping vegetables into water and "printing" onto paper.

They thought this was a LOT of fun!

Then, it was time to make pumpkin shapes.

The boys used orange paint on potatoes for the pumpkin part and then green paint on celery stalks for the stems.

The pictures turned out so cute! Thanks for the great ideas, Carole, and for organizing everything! After the project, we had a picnic lunch together at the park. One of Ian's highlights of being at the park was using the bathroom since the toilet made a funny creaking noise while flushing. He kept giggling and giggling while flushing the toilet multiple times. Then, he raced out of the bathroom to tell Ms. Aliceson, "When I flushed my pee pee, the toilet went ERRRT!" So funny!

On Monday, we got to spend time with Melissa, our precious 6-year-old friend! Melissa and Ian dyed pasta by squishing together rubbing alcohol, food coloring, and dry noodles in a bag.

Then, they spread out the noodles to dry.

While we were waiting for them to dry, we played hide-and-seek

and made a house for an earthworm we found outside.

Then, we got to string the noodles! Melissa was a pro!

Ian concentrated very hard

and even got the hang of doing it himself (mostly!). Here's a video of him concentrating ..

Here's Melissa showing off her finished product. She even added a hand decorated with fun foam Halloween stickers to one of her two necklaces.

Then, Melissa showed Ian and Kim how she can READ! She read the rhymes on each page and gave Ian clues for finding the hidden pictures.

What a fun time we had! Thanks for being a good "big sister" to Ian, Melissa!

Today, we went to Toddler Time at the library. It was extra special because the librarian asked the kids to wear their costumes! Here are Ian (the fireman) and Caleb (Cat in the Hat) in the parking lot on the way in.

We saw our friend, Charlie (the astronaut), at the library,

and the Three Amigos (Caleb, Ian, and Caleb - a pizza slice!) paused for a picture, too. Aren't their costumes clever?!?

Before story time was done, we went on a costume parade. Every child grabbed a musical instrument (Ian's choice was a bell),

and they paraded around the main lobby of the library before going back to the story time room.

What a fun day! :)

A fun weekend!

2011-10-19T15:46:00.001-05:00

We enjoyed going to Concordia's football game on Friday night!

For Ian, the best parts of going to the game are getting to be with Daddy,

playing in the long jump pit sand,

and groovin' to the band's tunes!

On Saturday, Ian had a great time painting! He was most interested in seeing what would happen when he mixed all of the paint colors together.

On Saturday, Matt and Kim got to go to Concordia's fancy dinner auction while some nice friends baby-sat Ian. We enjoyed the yummy food, the great conversation with each other and friends, and the chance to get all dressed up. (Can you believe that Kim's dress cost $1 at a garage sale?? What a find!)

What's new?

2011-10-14T15:29:00.000-05:00

Here's Ian during one of his last nights in his crib.

Not the most comfortable-looking, huh? :)

Ever since deciding one day last week at nap time that he wanted to sleep in his big boy bed, he hasn't even asked about his crib. We're really thankful ... and also a little curious about what changed in his little 2-year-old mind. :) Now he has much more room to spread out!

On Sunday, it RAINED!! Ian got to wear his cute garage-sale rain coat for the first time ever. As usual, he loved stomping in the puddles and playing in the mud. But this time he was especially interested in watching the water RUSH into the storm drain. We had fun watching the water push leaves and pine needles into the storm drain, too. Ian really was curious about WHERE all of that water went! He's also really curious about where the water goes after he washes his hands or flushes the toilet.

On Thursday of last week, our new bedroom furniture arrived! We got a dresser/mirror,

two night stands,

a sleigh bed frame,

and a chest of drawers. Eventually, we'll want to repaint our walls so we can use our pretty blue quilt from our wedding again. And we're shopping for lamps for the nightstands, too. Soon, our room will be complete! We love the extra drawer-space and the look of the new furniture!

Ian continues to do well. His favorite activities still include reading, singing, playing outside (especially with sand or his Cozy Coupe), going to Sunday school, or playing with vehicles of any sort. He continues to love learning words. Now that he's developing a sense of humor, he loves to say words differently (by changing a vowel or adding a vowel, like "muffin-a" for muffin or "buhnahnah" for banana). He just laughs and laughs after he says one of his funny words. His favorite request during meal time is, "Ask me questions of my food." He wants us to ask him things like, "Are you eating (chicken)?," preferably using food items he does NOT have so that he can say, "NO!" Silly boy! He wants to do absolutely everything himself -- turn on the water, wash his hands, get into his booster seat, climb into the carseat, buckle himself, etc. -- even when we're in a really big hurry or he isn't actually capable of completing the task himself. Momma is learning to build MUCH more time in before planning to leave to go places. :) It's hard to believe he'll be two and a half soon!

Papa and Grammy visit!!

2011-10-13T20:29:00.002-05:00

We were so excited to have Kim's dad and mom visit from New Mexico last week! Ian was thrilled to show them all of his things -- toys, sandbox, big boy room! He was even more excited to have two fun playmates all week long!

Grammy and Ian had fun playing the piano

and looking through "the Ian book" together (right after Ian got yogurt all over his shirt :)).

Papa made Ian giggle like crazy on the swing.

On Tuesday, Grammy and Papa wanted to see the children's museum they've heard Ian talk so much about.

As usual, we had fun burying things in the rubber mulch,

"fishing" at the water table,

and driving the fire truck.

But, Ian was interested in some brand new things, too. We attended the "boogie bash" parachute class. Ian was VERY attentive to the worker leading the class but got shy when she called on him for answers. When she asked him what his favorite animal was, he couldn't think of anything. When she asked him if he liked puppies, he perked right up and said, "Yes! I have two (stuffed) puppies at home. Their names are Puppy and Floof." Ha ha.

Ian was excited to point to the colors the instructor asked the kids to find.

For the first time, Ian was also really interested in the "air tables," especially the one that made the scarves go up really high into the air.

After the museum, Papa and Grammy treated us to lunch! The adults got $2 Schlotzsky's sandwiches to celebrate the restaurant's 40th anniversary. (YUM!) Ian loved his McDonald's chicken nuggets, and then we all enjoyed shakes.

Of course, a visit to McDonald's isn't complete without a visit to the play place. :)

While Grammy and Papa were here, Ian decided that he should start sleeping in his big boy bed! Ian was adamant that Grammy (and no one else!) should read books to him before he fell asleep! He thought it was pretty fun that Grammy could be IN his bed while reading to him! :)

After naps, we had a lot more time for playing, including Papa reading Ian some books.

On Wednesday morning, Matt and Kim attended a workshop to get hours for their teaching certificates. Papa and Grammy were great baby-sitters!

They took Ian on a wagon ride and gave him "under dogs" on the park swings.

Ian introduced them to the friendly neighborhood cat that is often at the playground.

Grammy and Ian did some color and shape activities together, too. (Thanks for the fun activity book, Grammy!)

Ian and Papa spent some time on the computer watching "Ian videos."

Later in the day, Grammy showed Ian how to play a few games on her i-touch. Ian thought the penguin game was the best and he really tried hard (if you enlarge the picture you can see his tongue hanging out of his mouth in deep concentration) even though the penguin kept landing in the water!

On Thursday, we just had a low-key day, at home and running a few errands.

Grammy got in Ian's tent, where Ian wanted Grammy to order food items from him.

And Papa and Ian kept a close eye on the men delivering our new bedroom furniture! :)

Of course, Grammy read Ian stories before bed!

Friday was our day to go to Galveston! Matt took the day off from school to spend it with us! We started out by riding on the Bolivar Peninsula ferry. This is what the ship looks like.

Ian enjoyed the ride, especially watching all of the seagulls and pelicans nearby.

Ian tried to "catch the wind" while we were sailing.

We all really enjoyed seeing the multitude of porpoises! On past ferry rides, we've seen one, maybe two, sometimes none at all. This time, we probably saw 60-80 porpoises on the there-and-back trip! It was awesome! If you enlarge the next two pictures, you'll be able to see the porpoises, too.

And here's our own high quality porpoise video.

After the ferry ride, we were in the mood for Asian cuisine, so our friend Garmin directed us to a hole-in-the-wall Vietnamese restaurant that ended up being really crowded and really good! Ian's favorite part was the noodles.

Ian "skipped" on the way back to the car! This was his idea of a PERFECT day!

Then, we headed to Stewart Beach for the afternoon. Matt enjoyed feeding the seagulls crackers.

Grammy, Momma, and Ian tried to build sand castles.

And we all enjoyed the pleasant Gulf water!

Thanks, Papa and Grammy, for a great visit! Ian keeps talking about the fun we had together. We can't wait to see you again at Christmas time! :)

Garden Faire, Being Crafty, and other random things

2011-09-29T17:43:00.001-05:00

Recently, Ian has been very interested in how things are spelled. We'll spend 5-10 minutes after dinner most nights spelling random words as Ian spells them back one letter at a time. Grammy had the idea of WRITING the letters while we spell them so Ian can see the words written out, too. What a great idea! It's easy to use the chalkboard easel (from Uncle Andrew & Aunt Sarah) we keep in our kitchen to do that. :) Ian also enjoys drawing on the chalkboard, especially lines and zigzags.

Last Saturday, Matt took Ian to the Mercer Arboretum Garden Faire. We stumbled upon this festival last year and thought it was so much fun! This year, Ian enjoyed the free train rides just as much as he did last year.

But this year, he was able to ride in his very own car!

Daddy and Ian stopped for a snack and then moved on to some of the activities.

Ian wasn't interested in the arts/crafts activities this year, but he did like playing with random sticks on the ground as well as seeing the policeman's horse.

Our little butterfly ... :)

Riding on the train for the THIRD time!

While Matt and Ian were at the Garden Faire, Kim was getting some of the 150 professional development hours she needs to renew her teaching certificate next December. (Thankfully, she has only about 35 to go!) Kim went with some friends to the Houston Puppetry Festival. All of the workshops were "make and take" ones, so Kim got to be a little crafty!

This dog was made out of two mini cereal boxes.

This little boy is created from carpet foam, a paper plate, and felt.

And this one is Ian's favorite -- The Itsy Bitsy Spider in a cup! He likes to hold up each puppet as Kim (and he) sing. See the below video.

Kim also got to be crafty when our small group had a baby shower for Martha! Even though the Wilton website considered this to be an "easy" pattern, they were a little tricky for this novice cupcake-decorator. Maybe part of it was that I modified a few things (using chocolate chips and Laffy Taffy instead of the candy chips recommended). They ended up looking a little creepy but tasting pretty good! :)

Ian continues to love being helpful around the house. One of his recent favorite chores is helping to gather the garbage from all of the rooms of the house and then dragging the garbage bag to the curb himself.

This video shows one of Ian's current favorite prayers. Notice that he's attempting to snap with the song. (Sorry Kim's voice is a little overpowering ... oops!)

Ian certainly makes us laugh with the things that he’ssaying now. He wants to be involved in every conversation and gets a littledisgruntled when Matt and I are having our own conversation. He’ll keep asking,“Are you done talking yet?” It’s especially funny to listen to what he sayswhile he’s trying to fall asleep at night. He loves to sing himself Sundayschool songs or retell things that have happened recently. There are two topicsthat he seems to talk about often. He’ll often talk about our eye colors,saying something like, “Daddy has green eyes. Momma has blue eyes. Ian has blueeyes, too.” He also loves to talk about an experience we had at a mall playplace where I had to correct another little girl who wasn’t being polite. He’lltell himself in the crib, “The little girl said (then he’ll make a spittingsound), and Momma said, ‘Don’t do that. It’s not nice.’” It apparently made abig impression on him. Ha ha. If any of his friends "get in trouble" during our time with them, Ian doesn't even seem to notice it at the time. But, he'll keep retelling me over and over about what happened when we get home. Not surprisingly, when he's the one that gets in trouble, we don't hear much about that ever again. :)

Some firsts ...

2011-09-21T20:29:00.002-05:00

On Sunday at nap time, Ian slept in his big boy bed for the first time! Momma and Ian read books together in his bed, and Ian took a nice long nap!

Even though it seemed to be a very positive experience, Ian has asked to sleep in his crib ever since then. We're guessing that the crib is just what he's used to, and we're not going to force the issue yet. :)

On Sunday night, we had a family movie night and watched part of "Rio." Ian thought it was SO much fun to watch a movie with the lights off and eat some popcorn!

Ian had his first bath in Momma & Daddy's jacuzzi tub. He loved the water and the bubbles but thought the jets were really scary and loud!

The best part was watching the bubbles come out through the top of the funnel.

Ian loves helping Momma vacuum the baseboards (a job Kim really doesn't like ... go,Ian!).

We had a friend from church over for lunch on Tuesday. Ian loved showing her all of his toys and the rooms in our house. She did a great job playing and interacting with him ... and even brought him gummy bears! What a treat!

Fun Activities and Big Boy Room

2011-09-15T19:11:00.001-05:00

One of Ian's favorite outdoor activities is seen above (both in the picture and in the video). He asks us to draw various shapes on the ground, and then we give him directions on how to get between the shapes. (like "Can you put your elbow on the square?" or "Can you gallop to the octagon?") He thinks it's the best game ever! I was thinking that maybe I could modify the game by using letters of the alphabet instead of shapes!

Before I ran to get the camera, Ian was using the tongs to take the puzzle pieces out and put them back in. I told Matt that he's going to LOVE the board game Operation in a few years. :)

One day this week, Ian asked if we could eat lunch "in the house" (in his play structure). Since the weather has been a little cooler, I thought that was a great idea! He loved peeking over the fence and watching birds go to our neighbors' birdfeeder while he was eating his lunch.

Ian's big boy room is almost done! Matt put up the light-canceling blinds! They work very well at keeping out the early-morning sunlight coming through the east-facing window.

We also put up the border (removable and self-stick... it's the best invention ever!!) as well as the vehicle wall clings (also self-stick and removable!!).

We hung up wall hangings and got his bedding all set!

Ian loves climbing onto his bed and showing his room to everyone that comes over.

We moved the furniture from our bedroom up into Ian's room. (Our new bedroom furniture should be delivered within a week, we're guessing! We can't wait!)

All that we still need to do is move over the clothes and items from Ian's nursery into his big boy room and get the bed rail up. This weekend, Ian will spend his first night in his big boy bed! :)

Professional Photo Shoot!

2011-09-15T17:29:00.001-05:00

Our friend Tanya did a professional photo shoot with us over Labor Day weekend. Here are some of our favorite pictures! (You'll certainly see these pictures again ... around our house, on our Christmas card, etc.). Tanya certainly has an eye for photography, doesn't she?? If you live in the Houston area, you may want to give Tanya a call for wedding, infant, child, or family photography! :) Her blog is http://tanyaalexandraphoto.com/Blog/. All pictures here are printed with permission from Tanya Alexandra Photography.

Happy September!

2011-09-08T13:53:00.004-05:00

A few months ago, we found this Cozy Coupe on a really good sale and meant to give it to Ian for his birthday. We didn't get around to setting it up until this week. Ian has been having a great time zooming down the driveway. About 3/4 of the way down, he picks up his feet and just coasts out into our cul-de-sac. (It definitely reminds Kim of Uncle Andrew as a little boy!)

One fun activity last week was water balloons. Ian had never seen one before! He loved "helping" to fill them up, squeezing them,

and throwing them! He quickly learned that they popped most quickly when he threw them onto the grass. He also quickly learned how fun it was to play with the filled balloons before they were tied off .... especially if it involved getting Momma soaked!
We continue to make progress on Ian's big boy room! My friend, Lauren, helped to give me some crafty suggestions on how to decorate these letters for Ian's wall. Now, the entire room (walls, ceiling, trim, and doors) are painted. Next up are adding the border, arranging the furniture, and decorating the walls! We're within just a few weeks of being all done! :)
Last Friday, Ian and I met some friends at the fountains on Market Street. It turned out to be a great way for Ian, Carson, and Nate to beat the heat!

As usual, Ian did not mind at all getting his face completely wet.
This time, we brought some water toys along. It was amusing to see how Ian thought to use the funnel.
Nate liked trying to catch the water coming from the funnel in a bucket. Thanks for the fun morning, Elisabeth, Elaine, and Carole! :)
We celebrated Labor Day by going to the zoo. The weather was beautiful, so it seemed like most Houstonians had the same idea. :) The meerkats were still a big hit for Ian.
Ian crawled through the aquarium tunnel for the first (and second and third) time ever.

The guys also got an up-close view for the elephant bath!

It's always fun to spend a day with Daddy! :)
On Tuesday, we set out to make "Clean Mush" (another idea from Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos.) Ian helped to grate a bar of Ivory soap and add 1/2 cup of Borax.
He then helped to unroll a roll of toilet paper (a big hit!) and add water.
The resulting "clean mush" was so much fun to squish, pick up with tongs (just like at Aunt Amy's house!), drop on the ground, and stomp on!

More Fun ...

2011-08-31T14:03:00.008-05:00

I've loved the challenge of coming up with a fun, small activity for Ian each day. The key has been to keep it simple and to borrow great ideas from other people! :) (On that note, please share fun ideas that you hear about. Thanks for the Counting Cocunts idea, Doris! That site is awesome!) I also have really liked using the book First Art: Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos by MaryAnn Kohl!
One idea from that book was making a tape collage using various types of tape. I knew Ian would like playing with tape since he always wants to use the tape when he sees me using it, but I didn't realize what a great learning experience it would be, too!
Ian didn't know at first that tape has a sticky side and a not-sticky side and he kept trying to stick the wrong side down to the paper. He was frustrated at first.
He quickly learned to put the sticky side DOWN!
Another side benefit was that he learned some new vocabulary -- duct tape, thick painting tape, thin painting tape, masking tape, and Scotch tape. :)
His finished projects actually looked kind of neat as well!

Ian had Caleb over one day last week ... right after our first rain storm in weeks and weeks! Needless to say, the boys were both VERY excited to jump and run and even play "Ring Around the Rosy" in the puddles!

We also did a few Easter egg hunts together! Neither boy really understood the concept of hiding the eggs for the other boy, but they were really excited to find the eggs that I had hidden. Just as fun for the boys was rolling the eggs all over the kitchen floor and excavating them up!
Last Friday, we went to the children's museum with some friends. Ian never gets tired of that place and eagerly chatters all the way there about what he wants to do, including the "rubber mulch pit,"

and the water table (He's learned that placing the fish directly onto the magnet is much easier than actually fishing).Friends Micah, Caleb, and Eli liked the water table, too.
Ian always loves the train table as well (so did Eli and Caleb).
Zane and Ian liked playing with sand, too.
We attempted to get a partial-group picture before leaving for the park for lunch, but it wasn't too successful. :)
While helping to get laundry in the bottom of the hamper, Ian thought it would be much easier to just climb all the way in!
On Sunday, we took Ian to his first-ever Sunday school class. Our church offers Sunday school beginning for 2-year-olds as long as one parent comes along. Matt and I plan to alternate going to Bible class and attending Sunday school with Ian. Matt said that Ian absolutely loved his first week of Sunday school (and was thrilled to learn that he didn't have to go to the nursery! ha ha).
Matt and Ian worked together on a craft -- a fruit tree with a black snake wrapped around the trunk. Matt said that Ian readily participated in the teacher's short Bible lesson about Creation and seemed to love all of the activities ...
Ian was a big fan of the apple juice at snack time. He also liked the free play with play dough and the songs (because he got to stand by Caleb). :)
Here's Ian proudly displaying his craft and toy snake "favor."
Monday's fun activity was something I modified from the art book for toddlers. The original idea suggested dyeing bubbles with food coloring and then blowing bubbles that would pop onto a piece of posterboard. Ian still isn't the most patient at blowing bubbles himself (we tried!), but I knew that he could spray the spray bottle independently. It worked very well!
He sprayed with blue first

and then added some green.
Ian's finished masterpieces ...
Yesterday, I had the idea to try a scavenger hunt with Ian. A fond memory I have from growing up is when my mom would design scavenger hunts for us – riddles hidden in plastic Easter eggs (no matter what the season) that would eventually lead us to a small prize or special snack. I wanted to start the tradition with Ian, but knew that he wouldn’t understand riddles yet (and of course can't read any words!).

Instead, I printed off seven clip art pictures (sofa, bed, bathtub, crib, fridge,
table, and television).
After he opened up each egg (saying “a paper!” excitedly each time) and saw the picture, he was able to independently find the place in our house where the next egg was hidden.

He loved the activity as much as the small prize at the end!
When Momma doesn't have a fun activity planned, Ian is happy to create his own. He spent quite a long time taking off each book jacket and sorting into a book pile, a book jacket pile, and a random-papers-I-found-in-the-books pile.
He also liked playing with balloons earlier today!
He still doesn't quite have the coordination to catch a ball, but he is thrilled that he CAN catch balloons!

In the process of getting Ian's big boy room ready (and cleaning out all of the closets), we found a Thomas train set that we got at a garage sale over 1.5 years ago. It has all of the pieces, including a fun crane that Ian has been carrying all over the house! The side benefits of deep cleaning, I guess! :)

On a side note, this week we went back to the grocery store where Ian was stranded in the locked car for about 10 minutes (see the last post if you have no idea what I'm talking about). Anyway, this week, right before I opened the passenger door to get him out, Ian asked, "Momma, can you open the door, or do we have to wait for Daddy?" :)

Week of Fun ... and not-so-fun

2011-08-24T13:51:00.002-05:00

I began this week with the goal to try some small, fun project with Ian each day ...

On Monday, we played with baking soda and vinegar (good idea, Becky & Marcie!). Using a small dropper, Ian put some vinegar we colored blue into a bowl of baking soda.
After the blue vinegar spilled all over, we made some red vinegar. :) Ian enjoyed watching the baking soda/vinegar mixture bubbling!

It didn't take long for Ian to realize that he could make a LOT bigger bubbles by placing the baking soda INTO the glass of vinegar. That was his favorite part! :)
I think Ian had almost as much fun, though, taking the tape off of his big boy room walls.
To a two-year-old, even "work" is fun, I guess!
On Tuesday, we set out to make "feelie goop." I poured a cup of corn starch onto a baking sheet. Ian loved feeling the smoothness of the corn starch and even trying to taste it.
Next, we mixed about 1/2 cup water with the corn starch to make that cool hard-but-liquid "goop."
Ian was fascinated watching the goop drip off of his fingers.
It looked especially cool after we dyed the goop blue. :)

Our not-so-fun experience Tuesday happened while we were out grocery shopping. In the process of locking the driver's door, I accidentally bumped the passenger door closed ... with Ian and my keys locked inside! After a moment of panic as I thought of the horror stories of how hot cars can get very quickly (especially in Texas heat!), I called Matt who immediately left work to come rescue Ian with his second set of car keys. Meanwhile, a nice lady parked next to me notified the store security. Soon, I had by my car a grocery store employee calling for emergency back-up, a large man trying to open the partially-ajar door with a coat hanger ("This usually works!" he said.), and an entire maintenance crew suggesting that I ask other shoppers who drive Hondas to borrow their keys ("Often other keys will open the door," they said.) Meanwhile, Ian sat inside the hot car, sweating a little but mainly just reading his book, pointing out the cranes, and generally being very pleasant. He kept saying, "I can't do that, Momma!" when I tried to instruct him on how to open up his car seat buckles. Within about ten minutes, Matt pulled into the parking lot, right before an ambulance and police car came to help, too. "I was able to get here very quickly," Matt told the police man with a smile. Thankfully, God helped Matt to hit all green lights and helped Ian to remain pleasant the whole time. Ian had no sign of any injury (or any clue about what had just happened). What an embarrassing, humbling situation -- one of those times when you feel like you probably deserve the "worst mom of the day" award. Thankfully, we have a merciful Heavenly Father who covers up those mistakes and gives us a fresh start every day!

Random Thoughts

2011-08-18T14:41:00.013-05:00

Play-doh continues to be a huge hit for Ian. He most enjoys using his play-doh scissors to cut chunks of dough into teeny, tiny pieces that he calls "apple pie." He'll sit and do this for at least ten minutes at a time while Kim gets lunch together or does some other project in the kitchen.

Ian loves painting, especially as we've been talking a lot about painting "the room that he'll sleep in when he's a little bit older." We worked this week to choose the paint, tape the room, and reorganize the room (moving out furniture that won't stay in there, organizing closets, etc.) Last night, on our last "date night" we started the oh-so-romantic task of painting while our friends watched Ian. Here are a few pictures of our project so far, including one of Ian helping out with a little rolling when he returned from our friends' house.

Hopefully, next week you'll see more pictures of the room-in-progress. How exciting! We're hoping to have Ian fully transitioned into his newly-painted, newly-decorated room in about a month. We'll see.

Puzzles have become a daily choice of activity, too. While Ian still most prefers wooden puzzles (cut-out shapes that fit into a board), he also enjoys experimenting with small jigsaw puzzles. He understands that the "peg" on each piece has to fit into the hole, but he doesn't get the concept of border pieces, matching color, etc. and needs lots of direction (Momma saying, "This piece goes here!") so he doesn't get overly frustrated. This Diego puzzle is his current favorite jigsaw puzzle. A friend gave us a Dora & Diego book and jeep, and they are now Ian's new favorite characters. He even noticed Dora cereal in the cereal aisle at Randall's on Tuesday! Who knew?

Ian is always up for trying a new activity! My cousin, Marcie, just started a blog. I get so inspired by Marcie's fun, kid-friendly activities, in addition to her yummy-sounding recipes. In fact, she has inspired me to implement a "Week o' Fun" next week. I'm going to plan a small and short fun activity for Ian every day next week that we'll do between when he wakes up from nap and dinner (in my opinion, the LONGEST time of every day as we wait for Daddy to get home). If I don't feel like being creative, I'm sure Marcie has at least five ideas I can steal. :) Her blowing-bubbles-print idea is the first one that I've actually had Ian try since I was really curious about how it would turn out. Ian thought blowing bubbles was SUPER fun until he decided to sample the (non-toxic) paint/dishwashing soap/water mixture, despite Momma's warnings that it wouldn't taste very good. Then he was ready to move on to something safer, like fingerpainting.

Ian has just recently gotten past the stage where he did NOT want fingerpaint on his hands and kept asking for it to be wiped off.

Last week, I went to my final baking class with my friend, Lauren. We learned a lot about using fondant (super fun!) to create shapes and also learned a fun, simple way to ice a cupcake like a flower.

We went to the children's museum last Friday. Apparently, it was a special "End o' Summer Fun" day with extra activities planned (so I probably wouldn't have braved the crowd had I known about it before we got there). One special activity was a presentation by Nutri Man, who explained some basic concepts of nutrition to the kids, although most of them were too young to really get it. Here, Nutri Man had them throw away "junk foods," but most of the volunteers threw all of the fake food away, including the apples and bananas. Ian actually wanted to volunteer when the activity changed to throwing small fruits into a monster's stomach, but he got a little shy and nervous when he started going up to the front and changed his mind. Ian's main fascination during the presentation was that Nutri Man (apparently VERY hot in his cape and mask) was sweating profusely. Ian kept asking in a concerned voice, "What's dripping off of that man?"

Ian liked sticking to his tried-and-true favorite museum activities, including the Lego table, fishing at the water table, and the train table. In the below video, Ian tells about some of his favorites at the museum as well as our trip to a few grocery stores the next day. (It's always interesting to hear what he remembers or thinks is important!)

Ian wants to be involved in EVERYTHING that we are doing. He got a big kick out of helping us nail new chair slides onto our chair legs.

He actually could really help with this project!

Lately, Ian often says, "I want to read it!" when it's time for stories. With some of his favorite books, like Dig, Dig, Digging by Margaret Mayo, Ian has every single word memorized. With other books, he'll just say random phrases and words that he remembers from each page. "I stop for 'destrians (pedestrians)," is one of my favorite lines he says from "My Car" by Byron Barton. Even with new library books (which he doesn't know any words from), he'll insist on being the one to turn the pages.

In other news, Matt has officially started school. He says that the extra 60-70 students in the building don't make things seem too crowded! He's challenging himself to learn the names of all of the new freshmen and transfer students very soon.

We'll go in next week for our 6-week check-up following the miscarriage. While we're still feeling overall very good emotionally, I'm starting to get a little anxious as our time to "start trying" quickly approaches. I just feel like I become so self-absorbed while I'm on the "will I get pregnant THIS month?" roller coaster. If there's anything that I learned during the time of the miscarriage, it's that God is completely in control, He's good, and that He provides just what we need to get through life's challenges. But, here I am again ... trying to take things under MY control and worrying/fretting that God might not have it all figured out the right way (MY way, which would be getting pregnant very soon). I loaned some maternity clothes to a friend, and it was heart-wrenching to hand the clothes over, wishing that I could be wearing them now, hoping that I'll be asking for them back soon, but realizing that I'm completely not in control of the situation. My head continues to swim with thoughts that don't need to be there since we DO have an amazing, all-powerful God who has our best interests at heart. Thanks so much for your continued prayers for our peace in trusting God's wisdom.

End-of-Summer Fun!

2011-08-05T14:35:00.015-05:00

I can't believe it's almost time for school to be starting again! We'll certainly miss the more-leisurely pace of summer but are excited to see what the Lord has in store for us in the coming months! Matt is looking forward to his fourth year as assistant principal at Concordia. The school enrollment numbers are up from last year, and Matt is excited about getting to know the new students and their families. I will tutor again this year and will probably have 9-10 students. As much as I enjoyed classroom teaching when I did it, I don't miss it now that I have the opportunity to stay home with Ian during the day and tutor three evenings each week!

Here's what we've been up to these last few days of summer ...

My friend Lauren (on right) invited me to take three baking classes with her, her mom (not pictured), and Melissa (in middle). So far, we've learned how to make icing, lots of ways to decorate with icing, how to use fondant, etc. We've had a lot of fun together!

On our last "Family Fun Friday," we went to the circus together.

This was Ian's first circus, and the first circus Matt or I had been to in a long, long time!

Ian mostly really liked it, especially when there was lots of action going on. His favorite "events" included the elephants, the motorcyle drivers (both "in the cage" and on the tightrope), the acrobats, and the trampoline jumpers.

He got a little restless during the slow parts, like while the tigers doing tricks. During the body benders part, when I looked down at him, he was lifting his feet up to his forehead, trying to copy them. Hilarious!

One of Ian's favorite pastimes is putting ALL of his stuffed animals into his crib and then asking to get in with them. We're in the process of getting Ian's "big boy room" together so that he can move over there in the next few months. When Kim first showed him his new big boy bed, he said, "I don't like big boy beds!" and then proceeded to call himself "baby Ian" for the rest of the afternoon. Thankfully, he seems to be coming around to the idea now that a few days have gone by. :)

Ian is finally big enough to wear the UT jersey our friend Chris gave him!

We went out for a very belated anniversary dinner this past weekend (thanks for watching Ian, Eric, Carrie, and Ian!). We enjoyed uninterrupted conversation and a yummy "dinner for two" at PF Changs (thanks for the gift money, Mom & Dad!). Ian had a great time, too. :)

We returned the favor so that Eric & Carrie could go out for an anniversary dinner, too. We absolutely loved our time with almost-six-year-old Melissa! We've watched her grow up, so she has a very special place in our hearts!

Ian absolutely loves her, too, and likes to copy everything that she does!

We all were a little silly during our time together!

Matt has been in full-swing home improvement mode! Ian "helped" take off the old door hardware, and then Matt sanded and stained the part of the door underneath where the new hardware would go.

The new door hardware (plus a new kickplate, which isn't pictured) are the finishing touches to making our front door look brand new. Way to tackle those projects, babe!

On Wednesday, we met some friends at Teddy Bear Park, a park specially geared for toddlers that we hadn't been to before. Ian really liked the slides!

He also took time to pull some weeds he found in the wood chips, a new favorite pastime at home as well. He gets proud to show that he also "pulled out the root!"

My friend Carole was super creative and taught a mini-art class to the kids that came. She had all the kids (Ava, Ian, Caleb, and Carson) sit on red mats while she taught them about bubble wrap.

Ian had never seen or touched bubble wrap before, and he thought it was VERY fun to pop!

Caleb and Ian especially liked to lay down while popping the bubbles.

After the kids spent a while popping bubbles, Carole showed them how to paint the bubble wrap and then use the bubble wrap to "stamp" a piece of paper. The art project was a huge hit! Thanks, Carole, for the great idea!!

Afterwards, Carson shared his spray bottle with Ian! Ian was a huge fan! In fact, we bought our own 97-cent spray bottles afterwards and have already had a few "water fights." :)

When we got home, we realized that our brand-new laptop (Hooray! Now we don't have to worry about our computer randomly turning itself off. AND now we're able to successfully Skype with family that lives far away!) came with some HUGE "bubble wrap" that Ian could pop while jumping. He thought it was so fun!

Ian tried his very first artichoke this week. He thought it was very fun to dip the leaves in the lemon-butter sauce and bite off the bottom. We even captured a video of his experience.

Here, Ian and his friend Caleb got the silly idea to lay under our rug. (Ian had just gotten his shirt completely covered in yogurt during lunch.)

Our friend Aliceson had the great idea to have a Date Night "co-op" so we parents can have a night out every few weeks. We take turns watching the kids while the other adults go on a date night. Last night was our night to baby-sit. We had a great time with everyone's sweet kids and laughed a lot at their silly antics.

Needless to say, our house was pretty quiet after everyone went home! :)

What's new with the Schleichers

2011-07-21T15:13:00.003-05:00

Some of you have asked what’s new with Ian … Well, our little toddler is growing up more and more each day! He continues to be a curious, active, social, opinionated, and compassionate little guy.

He has become VERY curious about other people. At church, when someone leaves during the service, he’ll say, “Daddy, where is that girl going?” At the grocery store, he’ll point to random people and say, “Momma, what’s that man’s name?” When Kim is tutoring, he’ll ask Matt to “go see” the student Momma is tutoring. Often, when he actually has an interaction with the person that he’s curious about, he’ll get shy and just bury his face in Momma or Daddy’s shoulder. Once he knows people, though, he really likes to be the center of attention and make people laugh. He’s starting to understand emotions, too. The first few days after our miscarriage, he’d ask us, “Are you sad?” and then give us a kiss or hug and say, “That will make you feel better” or “Are you happy?”

Ian is constantly narrating what he’s doing, what he sees, or what he’s thinking. His comments crack us up! “I’m drawing a telehandler,” he told Momma yesterday while drawing a line on his chalkboard. “I see a truck carrying a skid steer loader,” he told Daddy a few days ago while watching out the car window (and, sure enough! There was one in the other lane!). “Watch me do a swick (trick),” he told Momma a few weeks ago while he rode the exercise bike pedal around in a circle. It’s especially funny to hear him role play with his beloved Puppy stuffed animal, asking a question and then responding for Puppy. His creative side is starting to come out, too, as he’ll tell us silly stories about things that he did (that he really didn’t do).

He seems to have mostly figured out pronouns, though he'll still say things like, "Me is cold."And, he’s still trying to figure out how to tell us what his opinions are. He’ll say things like “Do I want some more fruit salad?” or “Do I want my digger?,” wanting us to ask him the question in return.

Reading books continues to be near the top of Ian’s list of favorites. He likes to “read” to himself and will usually remember most of the words or phrases as he turns each page. He will immediately correct us if we say the wrong word while reading to him. His new obsession is trying to hold a significant object from each book we’re reading. If we’re reading about dogs, he has to hold his stuffed puppy. If we’re reading a construction book, his digger is in hand. The “Mary Has a Little Lamb” book warrants finding his toy sheep.

Singing is another favorite activity. He likes to sing along with the multi-verse songs we sing him before nap and bedtime. He’ll entertain himself for long periods of time singing and combining various song verses together.

Like other kids his age, his little mind is a sponge. It’s amazing how far back he can remember or how quickly he can learn new things. When he likes a nursery rhyme we read to him, he’ll keep saying, “Again!” so that we’ll read it to him a dozen (or more!) times in a row and he can remember the words himself. He’s definitely learning about cause and effect, too – what happens when he drops or throws things, what happens when he spits, and what happens when he disobeys.

Ian continues to become more coordinated. For the past few weeks, it has been easy for him to go up and down the stairs while standing and holding onto the handrail. He has learned how to jump and loves to practice – on hopscotch boards outside, at Bouncin’ Bears, on his bed, anywhere!

Some of Ian’s least favorite things are going to the church nursery (or anywhere that Momma or Daddy will not be), sharing his toys with other kids, going to time out (he feels VERY remorseful!), watermelon, and potatoes. He often doesn’t like when Momma and Daddy are having a conversation (and ignoring him) and will say loudly, “Don’t talk!”

His favorites include the children’s museum, throwing balls, puddles or water of any kind, Nerf guns, construction vehicles (which he mainly knows by name), play-doh (especially the play-doh “scissors”), his black train, fruit snacks, playing outside, his toy paintbrush and hammer, and laying down while he’s playing so he can see his vehicles’ wheels spin. He also loves routines and will do certain things the same way EVERY time. For example, he loves getting down from his booster seat after a meal, removing a cushion from a kitchen chair, and asking Momma or Daddy to pull the chair over to the sink while he runs into the dining room. Then, he’ll run back to the sink, wanting to stand on the chair so he can help with dishes. He loves to “be helpful” and help put away laundry, unload the dishwasher, wash clothes or dishes, or water the plants.

We thank God for our little guy and the joy that he brings to us!

Thank you, thoughtful friends and family members, for continuing to ask us how we’re doing following the miscarriage a couple of weeks ago. We greatly appreciate your continued thoughtfulness and prayers! Physically, Kim feels back to normal and has her energy back. Emotionally, God is helping us to get stronger each day. We continue to think of our baby throughout the day, each day, but the tears are lessening. It’s still hard to tell people the story of the miscarriage and to see women that are pregnant (especially friends who are due right at the time our baby was). We know that it will continue to be an up-and-down journey through our grieving. But, the Lord is certainly hearing and answering our prayers. We trust that our baby is safe in His arms. Our Savior has given us hope for the future and confidence in His goodness. We thank Him for the encouragement that He has provided us through many of you.

We’ll include some pictures and videos below of our most recent activities:

Ian continues to want to sleep with random items -- generally different each night, but always Puppy

jumping in the rain (YES! We got rain! I think Ian may have forgotten what it was. During the rainstorm, he was especially interested in people's windshield wipers and kept saying, "The windshield wipers are ON! They're going back and forth!" We definitely need more rain! :))

Rain + dirt = MUD! :)

We went to Hermann Park for the free Houston Symphony 4th of July concert and fireworks. It was so much fun, even if we did get completely turned around and spend 45 minutes after the fireworks locating our car. :) Ian was completely enthralled by the fireworks (see below).

"Wee Willie Winkie" was one of those nursery rhymes Ian asked us to read a zillion times in a row after he heard it the first time. Here he is proudly saying it himself.

Every so often, I like to conduct random "interviews" with Ian to see what he'll say to various questions that I think of while I'm recording. We get a kick out of seeing what he thinks and knows and hope you find them interesting, too.

The Rest of our Trip!

2011-07-19T14:14:00.007-05:00

On Sunday, after all of the wedding festivities were over, we headed to Glacier National Park. Everything there was so beautiful!! What a Creator we have!!

Our first stop was Trail of the Cedars in West Glacier.
On the way to East Glacier, we stopped to see some sights, including Running Eagle Falls (below).

Uncle Jason taught Matt and Ian the importance of holding a "bear stick" while hiking. Ian thought that was a fantastic idea!

We met up with Kim's parents and Uncle Andrew and Aunt Sarah on Sunday night. We stayed in some cottages near Glacier National Park. Just as he had loved the time with Matt's family before the wedding, Ian absolutely loved every minute with Kim's family, too. He was spoiled by all of the love and attention and came up with little jokes with each person. (For example, he'd joke with Uncle Jason about not liking blueberries and loved saying, "No way, Jose" with Aunt Sarah.) While we were together in the cottages, Uncle Jason had us all "go on a bear hunt" together. Ian kept saying, "Again! Again!"

Uncle Andrew taught Ian how to blow dandelion seeds! Ian kept saying, "Again! Again!" (Do you notice a trend??) :)

While in Glacier, we got to see some animals up close, including ...

a black bear,

a brown bear,

a moose (You really have to look carefully to find this one! We actually saw one closer than this, but we didn't have our cameras handy before it ran away. We were thrilled to finally see one. Each time we saw a cluster of cars stopped or people with binoculars out, we'd stop to find out what they were looking at. Three times in a row, we heard, "Oh! There was just a _(really cool wild animal)__ standing right here. You JUST missed it!"),

and some mountain goats.

On Monday morning, we woke up early to do lots more hiking. Ian was excited to get back in
the hiking backpack! He loved singing and humming while riding on Matt's back. Kim tried to capture a video of Matt and Ian singing a made-up melody together . Even though it's a little hard to hear, it's too precious to not include.

We stopped to get some nice pictures near St. Mary, including at Sunrift Gorge (see below)

and St. Mary Falls. Kim's dad (not pictured), Amy, Jason, and Andrew were brave enough to climb right over by the waterfall!!

The "Going to the Sun" road was closed due to snow(!), but we decided to walk along the cleared off part for a while to see what we could see. Turns out there was not much to see unless we wanted to walk about five miles one way.

But, we did have a good time singing and talking along the way. :)

After naps, we were ready for more hiking in Many Glacier. We saw many more pretty sights and ate a yummy Italian dinner at a restaurant at the trail head. We topped off the meal with huckleberry frozen yogurt, a Kalispell/Glacier specialty!

On Tuesday, we headed back to Billings for more family fun!
We went to a baseball game together.

Ian's favorite part of the ball game was the yummy berry smoothie he had there. (They WERE pretty good! :))

Dancing to the music was pretty fun, too!

Perhaps inspired by the baseball game (or maybe just inspired by the game-loving youth director Jason), the guys had a Home Run Derby contest in Jason and Amy's big backyard.

After getting the field all set up, the guys rock-paper-scissored to see who would play which position first.

After a nail-bitingly close competition, Matt emerged Home Run Derby champ!!
Way to go, guys!

We also enjoyed going to Billings' "beach" (Lake Elmo).

We saw Uncle Jason's youth group's fireworks stand. Uncle Jason even lit a few fireworks for Ian, who kept saying, "Again! Again!" :)

And, of course, we just spent time relaxing and enjoying being together as a family ...
cuddling,

playing in the dirt,

cooking together,

celebrating Uncle Jason & Aunt Amy's as well as Papa's birthdays,

reading books,

playing outside,

tickling and rough-housing,

singing songs,

and JUMPING!

Thanks for being such wonderful hosts, Amy and Jason! We loved our time with all of you, dear family and can't wait 'til the next time we get to see you! :)

Jon and Chelsea's wedding

2011-07-18T14:41:00.008-05:00

Jonathan and Chelsea's wedding rehearsal was on Thursday, June 23rd. That morning, we went to the church to check things out and let Ian practice going up the aisle.

Ian was very excited that the church parking lot (which was just being completed) was filled with construction vehicles!
After the pre-rehearsal practice session, we went to lunch at Wendy's, where Ian loved every bit of his first-ever Frosty.

Despite his expression in this picture, Ian thought it was SO cool that he, as the ring bearer, got a shiny white pillow to carry.
Ian made it very clear from the beginning that he was going to RUN down the aisle.
It was nice of Jonathan and Chelsea to invite ALL of us to be a part of the wedding! Matt was a groomsman, Ian was ring bearer, and Kim sang a duet with Matt's sister, Beth.Ian was also very excited that the church parking lot (which was just being completed) was filled with construction vehicles!

After the rehearsal, we headed to the rehearsal dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant overlooking a lake. Matt's parents even planned a fun trivia game for the group after the yummy buffet. We laughed a lot and learned some new facts about Jon & Chelsea.

On the morning of the wedding, Ian spent some time reading with Uncle Jason,

some time rough housing with Aunt Sarah,

some time giggling with Uncle Andrew, and some time playing with Aunt Amy (even though we did a bad job of taking pictures of their time together ... sorry, Aunt Amy!)

The wedding party gathered in a pretty garden before the wedding to capture some neat pictures.

Matt's mom made sure his boutonniere was just right.
Meanwhile, Amy and Kim went to "Sarah's salon" to get our hair done. (It's GREAT to have a sister-in-law that's good with hair!) :)

Then, we all met up at the church for some family pictures. First, the original Schleichers and Chelsea.

Next, the original Schleichers plus the M.A.S. Club (Married A Schleicher).

Later was the entire Schleicher side that was able to make it to the wedding.

We attempted a family picture of just the three of us, but Ian had definitely had enough pictures by this point. :)

After the pictures and before the ceremony, Ian loved playing in the church's nursery, which was stocked with some super awesome toys! Jonny D. (the best man) showed Ian some cool train moves. And then it was time for the wedding!!!!

Ian gave Chelsea a good luck kiss,

and Chelsea and her dad found a quiet moment for prayer. Soon, it was time for Ian's five seconds of fame!

Kim was VERY relieved that our precious yet opinionated two-year-old decided that going up the aisle was a good idea. :)

He delivered the pillow RIGHT to Uncle Jon!

Way to go, bud!

Kim and Beth enjoyed our chance to sing together. Jon and Chelsea had chosen the song "How Beautiful."

Amy not only accompanied our duet but also played the ENTIRE service, including pre- and post-service music. Although she's played piano and/or organ for many church services, this was her first-ever complete wedding service to play for. She was AMAZING!!!!

Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Schleicher!! Chelsea, we're so glad to have you in the family!!! :)

What handsome guys! :)

The three brothers ... Matt, Jonathan, and Jason.

After covering Jon and Chelsea in bird seed, we headed to the reception -- a pretty ballroom set above a cute lighting shop in downtown Kalispell. It was a really neat reception site,

and we all had a great time celebrating with the bride and groom!! :)