i think i have a yarn addiction. i've been cleaning/organizing what is to be our "guest room"/"my craft room" once we build the boys bunk beds. i knew i had a lot of yarn but when i put it on display like this i realized just how much. i think i need to do some knitting/crocheting ... ya think? i actually started something for someone last night. don't want to say to much in case that someone reads this. i'll post a picture when i'm done. then i decided to start another blanket for Project Linus (www.projectlinus.org) with some baby yarn i have using a new crochet stitch my grandma taught me over the phone. it's something she came up with and it looks really neat! the top shelf in the picture is all of my wool sock yarn. one of these days i'll teach myself how to knit socks so that i can actually use it!

i need to scan this picture so i can put a better copy up here. i don't know if anyone can tell or not with this grainy photo of a photo but i found one of my baby pictures and it looks just like Brody! scroll down to the photo i posted on June 27th of Brody napping and you'll see what i mean. Houston looks just like Brett's baby pictures and Brody looks just like mine. pretty neat.

the little big man

he was so worn out after a little temper tantrum that he fell asleep right there were he was on the kitchen floor

multi-tasking

sleeping boys

Aarrgghhhh!!!

Does anybody else's two-year-old insist that everything in the house belongs on the floor? I'm gonna go crazy. I walk from one side of the house to the other, picking things up on my way and putting them back up where they were. A minute later as I head back to the other side of the house I find myself picking up the same darn things! It always looks like a small tornado has come through. Tornado Houston!

A Good Day

Brody had his one month check-up today. He weighs 14 lbs 1 oz and is 23 5/8 inches long. They said he is the size of the average four-month-old. They have these "charts" they use to graph babies growth at the pediatricians office and he is off the charts. The nurse just laughed and said "he still doesn't fit on my chart". I think the idea of everyone fitting on the same chart is kind of silly anyway. I guess we just grow 'em big! ;-) So after the doctors visit, which was my first trip out of lake city with both boys (ped is in G'ville), we headed to the mall. With Houston in the stroller and Brody in the sling we set out to do some shopping. I got to use a gift certificate I got for my birthday to buy myself some new clothes and some cash I got for my birthday to buy myself something else ... which I decided was going to be some new Reef flip flops. After our clothes shopping adventure in which Houston insisted on trying on women's clothes with me, we headed to the food court for some ice cream. But wait, mama has to potty so we head to the family restroom which has a big potty and a little potty. I asked Houston if he had to go and he said yes so we pulled down his shorts and diaper and lo and behold .... he sat down and went pee. Yipppeeeee!!!!! After some high fives and clapping and hand washing we headed out for the ice cream. I must say, Ben & Jerry really know what they are doing. I tried a new ice cream today that was awesome. It was like an Almond Joy but it was ice cream. It was coconut flavored ice cream with almonds and chunks of dark chocolate. Yummy! After the ice cream we headed to the play area in the mall where Houston and about 25 other little ones ran around like little maniacs for about forty-five minutes. Then this security officer comes and says there was a noise complaint so because one person complains of noise this guy thinks he can get 25 kids ages 1 to about 7 or 8 to stop yelling as they are chasing eachother around this "swamp" (it is G'ville) play area. Yeah right!!! Poor guy was just doing his job but I saw him get a pretty stern talking to by several of the moms he talked to. It was a bit crazy though. They have that place so the little ones have some place to blow off some steam so parents can do some more shopping. Would these people rather the children run and scream in the stores? I think not. I would really like to know who made the noise complaint but I know I never will. Oh well. I got a bit of a chuckle out of the situation. So after that Houston was starting to wear out anyway so we headed back to the car where he fell asleep in his carseat before I even left the parking lot. That was 4:30 this afternoon ... it is now 7:30 and he is still asleep ... which is why I have been able to sit here and type all of this for your amusement. He must have really worn himself out!

My little big man ... or bunchkin as I like to call him ... because he's a bunch-a-munchkin.

Brody is one month old already. Seems like just yesterday he was born but, at the same time, it feels like he has always been here. He is such a little sweetie. It's interesting to me how much I can see a difference in his personality compared to Houston at that age. He's so young and can't do all that much yet still manages to be very different from Houston. I think Brody is going to be much more serious than Houston who is a little jokester.
I finally got around to ordering birth announcements today. I figured since he was already a month old I better get to it. Although they seem like such a formality ... it's not like there is anyone left that I will be sending them to that doesn't know he's already here. At least now everyone will have a picture to hang on their fridge for a while. And yes, Brody does still have blue eyes ... but for some reason all his pictures look like he has dark eyes. In all of his pictures he has dark or red eyes, even with the red-eye reduction on our camera turned on. I can't figure it out!?!?

Rub a dub dub,Two boys in a tub

A really pretty, really, really, really old lion statue out front of Chopstix.

They have some really cool artwork at Chopstix. I couldn't resist rubbing his belly for good luck on my way in so I had to get a picture with him on the way out.

My 30th. Left to right: Wrenda (the photographer), Justin, Brett, Brody, Me, Eliza, Heidi

My birthday at Chopstix. From left to right, Justin, Brett, Me, Eliza, Heidi, and Jessica (midwife extraordinaire)

My 30th Birthday

Well it's official, my 20's have come and gone. I had a really great birthday. It started with hanging out watching cartoons with my boys and eating birthday cake for breakfast. Then Houston, Brody and I went and bought an mp3 player (thanks mom) that i've had my eye on for a while. Then Brett, Brody and I went out to dinner with several of my friends. There is nothing better than being surrounded by friends on your birthday. We went to Chopstix in Gainesville, which I would highly recommend if you live in the area. It was very yummy.
As I sit and reflect on turning 30 I find myself in a great place. I've accomplished many things that I always wanted to and then moved on to accomplish even more that I never could have dreamed of. I have a great husband and two wonderful little boys. And while I may not have the exciting job of working at NASA everyday anymore, my engineering degree has allowed me to make money from the comfort of my own home while raising my children. What a great thing that is!
It's amazing to look back and see what can happen in ten years. I can only imagine what the next ten will bring. Good things, I hope!

Brody napping

Houston waking Brody up ... again

The Crews Family

Brody taking a bath

Jane Austen

I've really gotten back into reading over the past couple of years. I used to read all the time when I was younger. I think having to read so many textbooks in college took me away from it for a while. The last thing I wanted to do when I had a break from school was stick my nose in another book. I rediscovered my love of reading while nursing Houston. I found I was watching way too much of the boob tube as I sat there nursing most of the day for the first several months. (Big babies eat a LOT ... trust me, I have much experience in that area.) I got tired of watching my "stories" and finally picked up a book. Since then, I can't even count how many books I have read. To name a few ... the first five Harry Potter books, all four of Dan Brown's books, a couple of cheesy romance novels, and lately two of Jane Austen's books ... which brings me to the point of this post ... I was really disappointed with Sense & Sensibility, which I finished reading today. I read Pride & Prejudice a few months ago, which I loved. And the movie is great too. I've watched it three times in the past month.
I was "supposed to" read these books in high school but could never get into them. For some reason, I am now able to read them and enjoy them. Even though I was disappointed in S&S, I could not put it down. Not sure if that makes sense or not but oh well. Now i'm looking for something else to read before I read Emma. Something unlike a Jane Austen novel. I would really love to find another author similar to Dan Brown to read. I really enjoyed all of his books. Anyone have any suggestions for me?
~C

Comments

For those of you who left comments that never showed up, they should be there now. I'm supposed to get an email when someone leaves a comment so I can review it (in case it's spam) before it gets posted. For some reason, I stopped getting those emails. I just went to my comments moderation page and found a whole bunch of comments just waiting to make it on our blog. So .... they are there and now I know to check that out more often. :-)
~C

Brody went for his first boat ride on father's day.

Father's Day 2006

Brody

More alert every day

sleeping so sweetly

tie-dye baby

the boys

mama and brody