We're getting out of town!

FYI: The no nap during the day approach has been working. Ezra has fallen asleep at a decent hour for the past two nights. Yeah!! 

Here are some pictures of Ezra and Dylan playing outside today. The weather has been really beautiful here lately. I think it has been a bit on the humid side (those of you out west would agree with me) but our friends Josh and Sarah (who are from Ohio) think we're nuts when we say that! I guess you just get used to what you grow up with.

Ezra is ecstatic to have his friend Dylan back home again. They played together all day today and never got tired of each other! We're so happy for good weather and good friends.

Sunday is our sixth wedding anniversary. We are using it as a great excuse to go do something. We never do anything on our anniversary, so this is exciting.  It always seems like something comes up or we have no money or something.  We are even going out of town (which we also never do) so I am especially thrilled. A while back we drove to a friends wedding and saw a town in Michigan we thought we should visit one day. So we are taking the kids and going there for a couple of days. I'm not really sure what all there is to do there so hopefully when we get back we will have some great stories and jaw-dropping photos to share with you!

Nine Months...and late nights

Little miss Annika turned 9 months old yesterday! We can't believe how old she is and how much she has grown in the past few months! A few highlights: 

1) She LOVES to clap to "pat-a-cake" and she loves to make the duck squeak on her favorite book. She also plays the little piano we borrowed from Josh and Sarah pretty well!

2) She has started a variation on a crawl that is really cute! She uses both arms and one leg, with the other placed strategically for support. It's kind of a hybrid crawl-scoot, but it's really cute!

3) She says "dada" and "mama" pretty regularly. She's said "dada" for a long time, but now she says "mama" quite a bit. 

4) She loves to eat all kinds of food. She's a great eater--she'll try anything! Her favorite food in the world is probably mashed potatoes, but she loves pretty much everything. 

5) Her favorite books are "Little Chick's Day" and "Goodnight Moon"--although she only really likes the full-color pages in that book.

6) She loves to play with Ezra and laugh at everything he does...and he does the same back to her. They're a really great pair!

In other news, we've had some pretty late nights recently (including tonight). For some reason, if Ezra has a nap during the day (which he needs) he will not go to sleep at night until really, really late. Last night it was MIDNIGHT! He just refused to go to sleep. Of course, Annika was asleep in their bedroom so we couldn't just stick him in there and let him cry it out. He tried to be helpful by bringing us books, cups, and other things we didn't really need, so it was actually kind of cute. Ezra often comes up with a laundry-list of things he "needs" when he is supposed to go to bed (cheese, grapes, milk, diaper change, motorcycle, cracker, milk again, stories, etc.). 

Tonight is shaping up to be no different...ugh.

Two Pees in a Sink- Get out the Bleach!

Ezra and Annika have become quite the pair. They laugh at each other's antics and craziness. It is very adorable. One stressing thing though is that Ezra's vocabulary has been reduced to "Unn!" and "Nnnnnnnn!" (think fire engine noises) "Umph" "Gaga" and so on- to be just like Annika. He thinks she is the best. It is a bit frustrating for us though because we know he can tell us just fine what he wants, but he won't. He has reverted to babyhood, I guess. We are hoping that his friend Dylan comes back soon so he will start using actual words again. He did say something funny the other day however. I was looking around the living room and sighed, and said "This place is really messy and I don't feel like cleaning it." Then Ezra said "Don't worry Mom, Dad will do it." He cracks me up.

Not a great week.

This has not been a fun week for us. Ezra was pretty sick for most of it. He would get a fever, I would give him Tylenol, it would go down, and then a few hours later he would have a fever again. For three or more days it was like this. Not fun. So I let him watch hours and hours of Bob the Builder which he still wants to do now that he is feeling better. It's been raining outside so I let him. I don't know how I am going to curb this particular bad habit of his.It's been pretty much a horrid week and I wouldn't want to repeat it. On the bright side though, Annika did not get sick. Let's cross our fingers that she stays well.Here's a few pictures taken of them this week. As you can tell, Ezra was feeling much better by this point.By the way, Jonathan is trying to come up with a hobby. If you have any suggestions of any cool, fun, interesting, inexpensive, or manly hobbies would you please leave a comment? Thanks.

Kids say the funniest things!

As you all know we live with a two year old...and we're sure most of you have had the opportunity to listen to and see two year olds explain the world around them. We've never laughed so hard in our life as when Ezra tells Anika what foods are appropriate for her age group, muses concerning the absence of eyes, ears, and noses on trees, or tells his mom and dad what they should be doing in order to make his life a little easier.  Here are a few of the things that Ezra has said this week:

(Shaking his head) "Bunnies no need shoes. (twenty seconds later) Bunnies no need hats. (another twenty seconds) Bunnies no need gloves. (a bit later) Bunnies no need shoes, hats, gloves, and shoes." (repeat, ad nauseum)

"Look there a motorcycle. I no ride motorcycle. I too little. I ride motorcycle when I big like dad."

"Mommy, Jesus made me cry yesterday. He said 'AHHH' like that! Make me cry!"

"Mom no see my skateboard. She's asleep. She no see it anymore."

"I no want to go to school, I want to lay on couch."

"Baby, you no eat that. That's gross! You too little!"

(When Anika is playing with the toy Ezra would like to play with) "Baby, you no want that. You too little. You want this" (and then hands her whatever toy/scrap/shoe etc. is closest to him).

(After trying unsuccessfully to remove his shirt) "Dad, you give it a try?"

While drawing on the wall while in the bathtub..."I draw a skateboard right there. It's really hard to do!"

While climbing down some rocks..."That really hard to do, Mommy!"

While putting together Mr. Potato Head..."Mr. Potato's face is really hard to do!"

While carrying a loaf of bread inside..."Holding bread up really hard to do, Daddy!"

The list could go on and on. It's constant entertainment! And for anyone wondering what Annika (I'm tired of people calling her Ann-neee-ka, so I'm spelling her name with 2 n's from now on!) is up to these days? She likes to get under stuff. Here's what I mean:

This is Annika's rendition of crawling under the bed. She must have learned this from her cousin Owen!

Even though she can't crawl yet, she is quite adept at getting places. This picture is funny because she looks like she fits quite well under there, but in real life that table is maybe two feet tall! She's a tiny little thing still!

Our day in pictures

Any Takers??

We saw this on our way home from voting the other day. Hilarious right?? I think we laughed all the way home. 

A tiger in Ezra's room!

I was reveling in my free time while the kids were napping today when I heard Ezra start crying. I went into his room to see what was the matter. Here is the conversation that we had:

Me: What's wrong Ezra?

Ezra: Ders a pie-ger in my room!

Me: There's a tiger? Or a spider?

Ezra: A pie-ger!

Me: Where's the pie-ger?

Ezra: Over der!

Me: Over where? In your closet?

Ezra: Yeah.

Me: Okay. Is it a a spider?

Ezra: No! A pie-ger! 

Me: Oh, tiger. Ezra, I don't think there are any tigers in here.

Ezra: Ders a pie-ger trying get in my rooom.

Me: Where? 

Ezra: Over der!!

Me: Okay. Tiger go away! No tigers in here!

Ezra: Yeah. Tigers no go in Ezera's room! Be quiet! No roaring in Ezera's room! Time out!

Me: Okay, okay, let's go back to bed.

Where does this kid come up with this stuff?! He is a riot! 

I later found the "tiger" that was in Ezra's room. He told me again later that afternoon about this tiger that was in his closet so I went in to investigate further. And yes, I did find a 'tiger' in his room. He wasn't just imaging things! Warning!! This is one scary tiger!!

Here is Ezra showing where the tiger is hiding. Sorry for the absence of clothes, but Ezra likes to be, in his words "comfy" when he naps.

Here's a first glimpse of the tiger...

Getting closer....

Ahh! The tiger! (or lion) I don't know, would this keep you up at night? He looks pretty nice to me!

Anika at Eight Months

Last week was Anika's 8-month milestone. The last month has really been a fun one for her as she now finds herself spending most of her time trying to crawl and/or walk to keep up with Ezra. She can't crawl yet, but she's getting pretty close and will probably have it down in the next few weeks. She can go backwards, which is probably more frustrating than not moving at all. 

As we mentioned, she also got her first tooth. The second tooth is coming in too, but it is taking its sweet time. Anika has been a real trooper and we have only had one hard night from teething. She's a pretty tough kid!

Last week Anika also got her first haircut! Christina cut the sides for her while she was in the bath and she looks so cute! Her hair always curls at the end, so there's not much you can do about that. It looks a lot better now, however. 

Just recently Anika has become a real "talker." She usually says "Dadada" all day long, but she also said "mamama" tonight and generally uses a sort of moan to get her point across. She loves to talk and always laughs when Ezra tries to get her to say things. 

This morning Anika woke at her usual time (around 6:15) to a wonderful new present! Sarah brought Dylan's old play-table for Anika to use and she had a blast! It has a piano with keys that light up and a lot of other fun noise-makers. Anika played with the piano and always hit the key she was supposed to. When she would hit it, it would make a noise and she would howl in laughter! 

Also, she is becoming quite opinionated as of late. She never wants to do anything but stand up (which she can't really do unassisted) and walk around (which she also can't do unassisted). So she spends a lot of the time cajoling one of us into holding her up or holding her hands while she walks around. These things make her very, very happy.

She's really growing up right before our eyes! We can't believe what a big girl she's become!

Ten little known facts.

Five little known facts about Christina:

1) I Love Love Love post-apocalyptic movies and books. I don't know why. Perhaps it's a bit morbid, but I totally love stories about a what people would do in post-apocalyptic scenarios. (If anyone knows of any good ones, let me know!)

2) I am really shy. This is probably well known, but there you have it. Also, I get really nervous meeting new people.

3) Although I don't usually let people see it, I have a great sense of humor. Jonathan and I were married eight months before he noticed it. I come across as serious, but I don't feel that way. This probably has a lot to do with little known fact #2. 

4) I have a mild obsession with bags. I don't care about brand names or price tags. If I see a bag I like, I have to have it! I have really particular tastes so I only find a bag I like about once a year.

5) I never ever wear shorts. Not even when it's 140 degrees out. Needless to say, I have really white legs.

Five little known facts about Jonathan:

1) The first compact discs I ever bought were Metallica's "Kill 'em All" and Ice Cube's "The Predator." I had a hard time deciding if I was a metalhead or a gangster as a kid. 

2) I was arrested for throwing rocks (technically, "projecting stones or missiles"). I was about 9 and my friend Lamar and I skipped rocks across the street before the school bus arrived. Once we got into class, a cop came and pulled us out, handcuffed us to chairs in front of everyone, and made us answer a bunch of questions about who we were trying to hit, etc. I had to go to court and, by this time, cried so much I developed pink eye in both eyes. My eyes were a puffy mess; the Judge took mercy on me, I believe, because she thought my dad beat me up. 

3) When I ride the bus, I entertain myself with "potential dialogues" between myself and some of the "giants" of my academic field. I hold these dialogues in silence, of course, and they always feature me finding holes in their arguments and eventually destroying their philosophies. Thus far I'm undefeated. It's a shameful thing.

4) I can still do a heelflip on a skateboard. Only once out of every 10 tries, but still...

5) I really love a well-done contemporary western movie. Two of my favorite all-time movies are "An Unfinished Life" and "Unforgiven." Both of them take place in Wyoming, which may have something to do with it. My other favorite kind of movie is the documentary. I suggest "Hoop Dreams" (probably the greatest movie ever made) and "Shoah" (probably the longest movie ever made--but still a keeper).