Coming and Going

We have had a few changes since my last post. Well, I should hope so since it has been almost 3 months since I've written anything on this blog. Which may be a disappointment to the 2 or 3 readers who were brave enough to check, but have since stopped checking, on whether or not I would break my silence...

To my defense, we have had some major changes in this time. I'll try to catch you up without writing an entire autobiography.

1. I'm pregnant. Like really pregnant (27 weeks I think). I'm due at the end of April and we are looking forward to having a girl this time (if the doctor was right). I still have my doubts in the back of my mind as to the accuracy of when the doctor says its a girl versus a boy.

2. We've moved! No, we haven't moved out of Florida, but back closer to the grandparents and other family members (which we have really enjoyed especially over the Christmas/New Year holidays). We get to hang out with our relatives a lot more often and still get to sleep at home at night. Awesome! We also have almost double the square footage of our last apartment, which has done wonders for my sanity since Caleb has our one and only car every day at work. On the down-side, we pay almost double the rent since we were living in campus family housing which is really cheap. Also on the down-side is all the cool people we don't get to see so often anymore. We miss you guys! Clark keeps trying to convince me that we haven't moved that far away, so we could go back and play with some of his friends. Hopefully we'll be back soon to visit when we get our car fixed (which has been plaguing us this week with problems).

3. Caleb graduated from UF with a BA in English (with honors). It was pretty cool all around and I appreciated that there were no long speeches from anyone. I seem to remember my graduation being boring (as graduations tend to go), but I was really excited to see Caleb walk across that stage. Caleb was smiling pretty big the whole time. I was and am very proud of him and all his hard work. I would post a picture, but he has also misplaced our camera... So, no pictures for now. Also, Tim Tebow was graduating in the same ceremony. That was pretty cool, even though I'm not really a football fanatic. I feel I have put up with enough game-day traffic to appreciate it.

4. Caleb got a job! I know you were all wondering, since he was an English major. :) He is working for a railroad signal engineering company and doing well. (Nope, not writing a novel or teaching high school.) After 2 years as a full-time student, we are very relieved he is gainfully employed again at a job he feels has a good future. So, next time you're stopped at a railroad crossing you can think of us. (Or sing Thomas the Train songs, like we usually do. Either way.)

5. Bruce has turned 2 years old! This is a little bit of older news, but nonetheless it has happened since my last post. He usually seems older to me because he speaks pretty clearly for his age, but then he has a meltdown and I remember that he is only 2.

He is such a creative little guy and always saying funny things. He stood up in his booster seat the other night at dinner with his arms stretched to the side exclaiming, "I'm a sword!" I have no idea where that came from, and I couldn't help but laugh. I made the mistake the other day of hoping for a repeat performance (since it was so cute), but when I said "Brucie, are you a sword?" I just got poked in the eye by a very fast finger.

We were also talking about eating things that were good for us (eating vegetables at dinner) and how the things that mommy eats, the new baby eats too. Bruce thought about this for a minute and then said, "Mommy, the baby says, Oooh! That's Hot!" He had just burned his mouth on his food a minute before. I'm constantly amazed at how content he can be playing by himself and the funny things he comes up with in his creative play time.

Bruce is still enamoured with his brother and is so excited when Clark wakes up. Sometimes he'll even hug him and say "I love you, Clarkie!" (This, of course, is contrasted with plenty of the sibling struggles that are common to 2- and 3-year-olds.)

6. Clark has moved up to the Sunbeam class (3-year-olds) in Primary at church. He seems to be doing well and enjoying being a "big boy" now. He even has a cute tie to wear (just like Daddy). I get to see him during singing time since I teach the 4-year-old class now. He loves singing and is quick to learn the songs, but is still learning how to stay in his seat. Bruce has been distraught by this development, since Clark no longer plays with him in Nursery class (18-months to 3-year-old class). He was so upset this last Sunday that he had to sit with Daddy in his class for a while and calm down, but was coaxed back by the promise of snack time and did just fine after that.

Well, Happy 2010 to everyone. I'm looking forward to catching up on my blog reading now that we have the internet again! Hopefully, it won't be so long before I post again.

Funny Things

Just a couple of random quotes:

"Mom, is that guy beating his dog?" by Clark while watching a jogger and his dog running. Get it? Beating him in a race? I know, it took me a second to process and respond to his question.

"I'm going to beat you up!" by Clark while racing up the stairs to our apartment. He does say this while racing when we are NOT on the stairs and it cracks me up. Is it wrong if I don't correct him?

"HI FRIENDS!" by Bruce with a big smile to a crowd of strangers in our parking lot. They did respond similarly to his greeting. The enthusiasm of little children is undeniable.

A Little Incentive

Clark has been giving us a hard time about bedtime in a typical 3 year old way. I need to go potty, I need a drink, climbing into his brother's crib to wake him up, etc... He has been such a good sleeper until the "big boy bed."

It really only took a bribe (ahem), I mean some "positive reinforcement," to help out at bedtimes around here. (Thanks for the idea, Dad.) Besides the excuses, he was doing a pretty good job of keeping himself awake while he was in bed (until 11pm and sometimes later). I don't know how he does it. Put me in a quiet, cool, dark room with a fan and I don't stand a chance.

It wasn't until he decided he wanted to go to bed, with a promise of reward the next day, that we have really had any success. We've been going for 2 nights now without any incidents of bedtime resistance. The power of a lollipop in the eyes of a child. He insisted on an orange one (his favorite color), but settled for a cream soda when I couldn't find orange.

Brucie is enjoying the rewards for good bedtime behavior, too. It's kind of a given since he falls asleep pretty quickly. He ate his lollipop today and about half the stick (well, it was pretty well chewed).

Just in case you were wondering, they still have root beer flavored Dum-dums. For some reason I always remember getting that flavor as a child. Ah, good memories.

Bait and Switch

It's been in the 90's all week, but we may see 80's again next week. (sigh) I shouldn't be surprised. It's like this every year, but the promise of cooler weather is so anticipated (by me) that I can't help but be disappointed. Well, maybe we'll have another cool snap by Halloween.

Clark has been washing dishes with Daddy lately. The agreement in our house is that I will make dinner every night, and Caleb will wash the dishes. We don't even have a dishwasher, so I really mean wash the dishes. I have to give him props because Caleb is really good about it every night. Well, finally he has a little help... from Clark. Caleb washes and Clark rinses. The enthusiasm from that little guy is really overwhelming. It's the first thing he talks about in the morning and he doesn't let up all day. "I think we should do the dishes, Mommy." He continues asking for the rest of the day. He actually finished helping tonight and suggested that we do them again. Caleb declined the offer. I wonder what would happen if I was as enthusiastic about cleaning. It's really cute, actually. Well, the chances are slim that this excitement about dishes will last until adolescence (and it certainly doesn't happen when we're picking up toys), but we'll enjoy it while it lasts.

Funny Clark quote...
I have found that the moment my children see me eating they want some too. Even if they've already eaten. Well, this was after he had eaten breakfast and I was trying to tell Clark that he didn't really want what I was eating because he would think it was yucky. Well, he didn't fall for it. This was the expressive response, asked as if he really wanted me to answer his question. I wish you could have seen his hands waving for emphasis. So funny. I've never heard him use this expression before.

"Are you kidding me? Mommy, are you kidding me? I love that stuff!"

Funny Bruce quote...
Brucie, as the youngest, often will get the benefit of the doubt in a conflict (especially when I didn't see it). Well, he didn't in this case because I saw what he was up to. He was trying to commandeer Clark's coloring book (he had his own, but wanted Clark's), and I told him that he should go color in his own book. He turned back to Clark and this was what he said with an accusing finger waving at his brother for every word...

"Clark! You. Are. Driving. Me. CRAZY!"

Whoops. I guess he may have heard this from someone before, but not with quite that much emotion. :)

This is a dish washing video. If you are wondering, yes, I believe that Brucie takes a sip off the spoon. Just to make sure it still functions as it is supposed to, I'm sure.

Cool weather is here!

Well, cooler weather. It's been in the mid-80's and we've been enjoying the outdoors this week since it seems the hottest days of the year are behind us. Not exactly cold, but this morning was a little brisk for our walk. I'm looking forward to some more enjoyable (not sweltering) outside time. I'm sure the boys are too. Welcome fall!

Morning Hair and Library Books

This was an extreme enough case of morning hair (well, after-nap hair) that I thought I would document it for Clark's posterity. Apparently, I take police line-up style pictures of my children. Clark looks like all he needs is a number to hold up in front and the height lines behind.

Bruce also wanted to be in on the action. He had been up a little longer and was much more chipper. He seems tall for almost 2. Generally I try to avoid a messy room scene if I can, and I guess that leads to this style of pictures.

(As a disclaimer, I'll let you know that we went to the library which always ends up with a room littered with books until the excitement of the "new books" wears off after a few days. At least they're excited about reading... It's a trade-off I guess.)

We've been into nature/science books recently. Snakes, lizards, bugs, airplanes, etc. I attribute this newfound interest to Uncle Mike, who spent a lot of his visit hunting/catching lizards and frogs. Clark's made a request for volcanos next time.

Bruce is mostly into board books, due to the aforementioned book ripping. These incidents are fairly regular, but usually reserved for older books which are showing some wear (which are usually the ones that WE own). Personally, I like to read books with a good rhythm and rhyme. Like Dr. Suess and "Bear Wants More".

Most contested book from this library trip: A field guide to amphibians and reptiles.

Exerpts from the Scriptures

Literally...

I found Brucie manhandling Caleb's scriptures the other day. Clark stated several times in the following minutes that it was Brucie who did it (and not him). Brucie spent a while in time-out while I found all the pieces. Repaired pieces are on the left-hand side of the picture.

Reconstruction was touch-and-go, but I think the patient is going to pull through with all pages intact. Caleb has committed to not leave his scriptures on the table after he is done reading them in the morning.

Brucie a few days earlier with my fruit smoothie... What a stinker! I guess you notice a theme here: Items left on the table are not safe from almost-2-year-olds.

Clark looking cheerful after church today. He's posing for Nana who got this outfit for his birthday.