CUTEST baby ever...EVER

Okay, seriously, if you are not already smitten with my son, check this out...please try to ignore my obnoxious voice... :)



(one guess what his favorite animal is)

Weekend adventures

Saturday was gorgeous again, so we headed out to our favorite castle, Dunnottar. Yes, we have a favorite castle. :) I have posted this castle numerous time, so here are just a few of the kids playing.

Luke was pretty adventurous and even ventured outside of his usual 2 foot Mama radius .

Bekah loves to yell out hi from random places...

A little closer...

This just made me smile. Looked like they were having a man to man talk.

Video#1: Luke (and Rebekah evidently) has mastered a real word here :)

(side note- Luke only says it the first time and the rest are Rebekah :))

Video #2: Luke was all about the steps...he is looking for his sister, calls out for her, and keeps hearing her voice but can't see her. :) Listen carefully for his frustration at the top...it's awesome.

(side note #2: I am confident only grandparents will enjoy this)

Beks spotted this mouse!! It was the tiniest mouse I have ever seen!

Last night, after naps, we had the Ellises and the Sumners over for a BBQ. Christy and Darren are staying in a B&B as they look for a flat. Darren is also starting his PhD this year. They have 2 kids- Joshua (3 1/2) and Abigail (21 months)- very similar to our 2!

Nothing tastes as good as your sister's milk.

Eyelash

While Josh and I practiced our driving last week, we were able to get some spectacular views of the city and countryside. Unfortunately, the point was the drive, not stop to take pictures. Plus, some of the roads have a lot of blind summits, so I didn't really want to get run over for the sake of my blog. This is the view off the road where we practiced 3-pt turns, parallel parking, and reversing around the corner. (funny sidenote- after Josh had practiced for a while, a man came down and moved his car! Then, several days later, I can only imagine his frustration as the same car (now driven by me) began the same manoeveurs (British spelling)- he headed down to move it again and I just drove away.)

This was last Sunday- I just liked this outfit- all 3 pieces (the dress, the leggings, and the headband) for 4.25 pds. at the NCT sale.

Wild woman- just wanted to get the leggings...

Monday morning, Kate and her clan headed over to spend the morning. This was us trying to get down the street. I thought Luke's exasperated expression was worth the photo. Notice that Rebekah has "Eyelash" with her. Eyelash is what she named the new doll Kate and Lily gave her. It was Lily's gift for being a big sister and she wanted nothing to do with her. Rebekah was immediately attached to her, so Kate gave this doll to her. She has drawn-on eyelashes and I can only assume that was what inspired her name. Rebes also calls her "Ashy" for short.

I took this picture b/c Rebekah told me, "Mom, I'm reeeeaaal interested in kilts."

Other trivial updates:

I mentioned Eyelash. We are rarely seen without her. In fact, she has supplanted Mickie, Puppy, Lamby, and even Madeline for the time being. Tonight, Rebekah needed me to move a pillow on her bed b/c "that's where Eyelash takes her short nap." ("short naps" are naps and "long naps" are night time sleeps- this is Rebekah's interpretation of her day. In reality, "short naps" should be called "no naps" since absolutely no sleeping occurs.)

This morning, at 7:15, Rebekah shyly opened my door and asked if she could "snuggle in?" Um, yes.

Luke seems to be transitioning to 1 nap! Bless that precious boy, he has been sleeping from 6:45 or 7pm until past 8! As for morning naps, if I put him down at 10 am, I have to wake him at 11 and he takes a short nap at 2-ish. If I keep him up, however, he takes a weirdish nap at 2, where he often wakes up, but goes back to sleep fairly quickly. Strange thing is that he is mostly content until 2 and then is often cranky afterwards, but usually okay. This has opened a whole new world of play groups and even Dunnottar Castle in the mornings! One morning last week, I put Luke in his crib for a play time at 10 am- he had gotten up past 8, so I figured he wasn't tired, but I needed to shower, etc. So, I kept the lights on, no sound machine, and put in toys. Rebekah and I made a ton of noise doing various things (he has no door, so this is significant), and to my surprise he was conked out! Funny little guy. I often find him on his tummy/face with his bottom up in the air. :) Anyway, we seem to be in a whatever we need works mode (be it 1 or 2 naps), and I am enjoying it while it lasts.

A few minutes ago, Rebekah came down from bed, declaring we had forgotten to brush her teeth. As a matter of fact, we had. As she spit out her toothpaste, she looked at me (with slight condemnation) and said, "We sure got lucky the sugar didn't eat my teeth." She obsesses about sugar and needing to brush her teeth.

It's working!

The "Happy birthday, dear Papa" video is now working- see post from yesterday. :)

Happy Birthday, Papa! (Try #2)

Update: for some reason, the video mentioned below is struggling to finish. It should be here at some point, but here is a fairly lame one of the kids from a few weeks ago- I had the same trouble getting it so finish, so i am just now posting it. Prior to me recording it, Luke had been cruising on the wall. In this video, he is distracted by Rebekah chunking her car down the stairs and her jumping. If you watch closely, you'll see him bob in time with her jumps. Just a few weeks later (meaning now), Luke zooms along that wall and is still cracked up by any of us jumping (he'll throw his own body on the ground, as if he's pinning someone in a wrestling match) and bubbles popping (as in gum). So, here is your tide you over video:

(p.s. I should have recorded Luke seeing himself and his sister jumping- he was still quite tickled...)



Rebekah wanted to tell Papa happy birthday- for some reason, I could not coerce her to keep her hands away from her mouth, which is why she mentions that she is itchy- I think it was a ploy. :)

I went ahead and embedded the video while it was still uploading...I think it will work later- so keep trying if it says it's not available...actually, when you see her face instead of a blank Youtube screen, it should be ready...we'll see!

I passed, too!

Oh my word- that was intense! I got the same examiner as Josh, which was great! I got my car questions right (how to tell if my brake fluid is sufficient and that my horn works). However, I was SURE I had failed because I knew I cut someone off- slightly- and he HONKED at me!!! I was overcompensating for hesitating too long at a previous turn and was so worried I shouldn't have taken that turn. However, even if you do fail right then and there, you still have to finish the drive. So, with heavy heart, I continued on. I NAILED my reverse park (ie parallel park) and got one minor fault on my reverse around the corner for not checking my mirror at one point (I had had to start over b/c a car entered the street and you have to stop, and I guess I didn't recheck as well as I should have b/f starting again). So, I got 3 minor faults. My examiner told me that the hesitation, the cut-off, and the missed mirror check were my 3. He said the guy honking at me was just mean and that I did what I needed to (speed up) to compensate. :) Bless him.

Yea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

He passed!!!!

Josh passed with only 2 minor faults- he could have had 15, so that is amazing!!!!

Pray for me tomorrow...I will have more than 2... :)

Prayer requests :)

Hey- just a couple prayer request for y'all...

1) Josh's driving test is Weds and mine is Thurs- both are at 10:44am :)- so pray for us your Tues and Weds nights if you're in the US (or at 4:44am if you're up!)

2) I THINK the company I wrote various things for the past 2 years is meeting this week to discuss budget stuff. I have been told they do not have the resources to hire out writers (like me), but they are meeting to discuss it and probably decide for sure. Please pray for a favorable outcome for me. :)

Thank you!!

I will update anything I find out and certainly about our driving tests (NERVOUS!!!), as well as post some cute pics of the kids tomorrow or when I can!

Watch it happen

I get mocked pretty frequently for the amount of pictures I post. First off, it's my blog, I can post as many as I want. Secondly, if you had Picasa and could email as many as you wanted directly to blogger, you might be more tempted (altho even Picasa still has the audacity to ask me "Email 38 files?"). Thirdly, I never know which ones are the real winners. Based on the baby pictures people send out, we don't always agree on what "cute" is. So, I like to give you options.

Today's post is no different- maybe even more pics than usual...and not because they're all so darn cute but because they are all pieces in a some process or bigger whole from the day.

For example: "Eating your first Nutrigrain bar"

or "Becoming enchanted by the beetle"

or "Being part of a team"

or "Watching a UK TV" (the ONLY good thing about a front-loading washer the size of a thimble)

or "Playing at the park with my dad"

(and my mom)

or "The end of summer"

Sidenote:

You may not have recognized that pretty little girl in the photos. That's because she no longer is a thumb-sucker. The day at the park was her reward (of her own choosing) for ceasing to mutilate her thumb. I am amazed at what Mavala Stop (great tip, Carrie!) and a little bribery can accomplish in one day.

If you'd like more details:

Rebekah has been an avid thumb-sucker since 4 months old. It has not for one second hindered her ability to speak endlessly with multi-syllabic words, but it is a habit I felt needed breaking by 3. My friend and mentor Carrie suggested Mavala Stop- it is a clear nail polish-like product for this very purpose.

So, I had the right product, but I needed her buy-in. Fortunately for us, our elder child is very susceptible to positive thinking, pride, and bribery. Positive thinking: You can choose to stop sucking you thumb! Pride: Do you want to be a big girl? and Bribery: You can choose whatever you want for quitting sucking your thumb. Rebekah was all in from day 1- she even helped me paint it on, and while it lasts for days (based on my test thumb which still is awful when I use my fingers to eat something), she asks for it to be reapplied at least daily.

She openly admitted that she sucked her thumb a little bit that first night ("I just wanted to see what it tasted like- it was yucky."). She did not do it again. I know, as all mothers do, what my kids do (or don't do) by the tell-tale signs on their persons. In this case, there were no wrinkles on her thumb. Additionally, no sightings during the day, when resting, or when reading books.

Mission accomplished. Thank you, Lord, for another easy win where I expected a drawn-out battle.