helper nathan

Nathan is a very good helper. Here are just a few pictures of him helping out around the house.

missed pictures

There are a couple pictures that I meant to put up previously but forgot. The first is a picture of the three firepeople in our home. Don't they look ready for action?


This is Caroline's first time pulling up. Matt was there to witness this milestone met. Yay! This was on August 27th.

Two Videos

Here are a couple recent videos of Caroline. I think you get a lot more out of seeing the action and hearing the sounds than you do a still picture (though I'm not knocking still pictures). Enjoy! Don't forget the new pictures in the post below.

This is a video of Caroline crawling.





My favorite part of this video is Caroline jabbering away. I think it's very cute!

around the house and swimming

new August pictures

so maybe he's not so weird

Nathan has been a pretty good eater so far. However, he had an odd aversion to what seems to be most kids' favorite food -- pizza. He had never had it, but refused to eat it, saying he didn't like it. About a month ago, he got to go to a party at a place called Monkey Joe's (an indoor playplace with blow-up slides, etc.) because he accomplished the requirements of a summer reading program at church. Lunch was served, and it was, of course, pizza. Jennifer convinced him to eat some, and he decided then that he did in fact like pizza. We've had it a few times since then and he keeps saying how much he likes it and how he didn't used to.

It's something of a relief for this "discovery" to have been made. Now he won't go hungry in his teenage/college years when pizza is the only thing being served.

once again

Caroline decided to prove me wrong once again. After posting about her crawling styles yesterday, she decided to do most of her crawling today in a very "normal" knee and hand style. It just figures! :)

the teeth are coming

Today, for the first time, I felt Caroline's teeth coming through her gums. For a week or two I've been able to see where they were coming, but they actually broke through today. It seems funny to get excited about teeth, but it's a milestone met.

Another "milestone" of sorts happened a little over a week ago. I removed Caroline's bumper from her bed. It was really kinda sad. Since she has been crawling, she has been pulling her bumper down to look out while laying on her belly. I was afraid that she would get on top of it one day so I took it out. It was either that or move the mattress down even further. Since I figured that she would keep pulling on the bumper either way (and possibly break off another tie), I opted for the ease of a higher mattress.

She's getting too big too fast! Things are just flying by so much faster with her than they did with Nathan. Of course, there's good reason for that. I can't focus all my attention on her like I did with Nathan. In addition, we've been very busy with house-type things.

A non-rejoicing milestone also happened this week. Caroline is sick for the first time. She's got some congestion and a yucky little cough. She's been good, but you can tell that she's not feeling the best. I knew something was up when she woke up about 10:45 Sunday night. I can't remember the last time she did that. Normally, she goes to bed around 7:00 (8:00 on Sunday and Wednesday nights) and doesn't wake up until sometime between 7:00 and 8:00 in the morning. She also woke up last night about 1:45. I hope that she gets over this soon! It's no fun to have sick kids.

Oh...one more. I've been meaning to put a description of her crawling methods on here, but I haven't stopped to do it. She has two "crawls". One I would term the "inch worm crawl." This crawl is most like actual full-out crawling. She gets on all fours, moves her knees forward and then kinda plops down legs, belly, chest, head. Then, she starts again. The other is her preferred crawling method. I term this one the "military crawl." In this method, she reaches her right arm out in front of her and places her left elbow at a 90 degree angle propped on the ground. She then proceeds to pull herself along with her right hand and left elbow while pushing with her feet. If I remember correctly, she often bends her right leg in the process but not the left. It's funny to watch, but she is very good at it and can scoot right across the room.

Gosh...the more I write, the more I think of. I'll have to come back soon.

pictures from the last week

point of comparison

As a point of comparison, Nathan didn't crawl until he was about 10 months.

(maybe in a week or two I will get back to "normal" blogging)

crawling achieved

Carline started crawling this weekend. She's not a speed demon yet, but she's definitely on the move. She's still working on moving her legs and her arms together, but she's moving! We're in trouble now!!!!

quick update

Caroline is moving all over the place these days. She's not actually crawling, but there is no keeping her on top of a quilt. She scoots pretty well. I don't think it will be long before she is all out crawling.

what insight

Our church has been without a pastor for 2.5 years. This coming Sunday, our prospective new pastor will be preaching and we will be voting on whether to "keep" him or not. Tonight I was explaining this to Nathan. I told him that most churches have a man that is in charge and that teaches the people about God and that man is called a "pastor" or "preacher." "Preacher," he said. I told him that for a long time our church had not had a preacher there all the time to teach us. To that, he responded "but God is there all the time and He can teach us." :) What insight! I told him that he was exactly right. The important thing is that God is with us. I'm a proud Mama!

another milestone met

This past weekend, I told at least three people that Caroline was working toward crawling but that she hadn't yet figured out how to get her belly up and her knees down at the same time. Well, Sunday afternoon, she pushed up on hands and knees. I guess she just wanted to show me that she COULD do it. :) She's done it quite a few times since. I managed to catch a picture just a little while ago.

Caroline at Fripp

(don't miss Nathan at Fripp below)

Nathan at Fripp

Nathan's Fripp Pics