Holiday Highlights

We ended up having a fantastically restful Thanksgiving weekend. I took exactly two pictures of our Thanksgiving dinner- sent Jason out to do the dirty work at 4:00 AM on Friday morning, and we spent the rest of the weekend decorating for Christmas-
and walking through fields to poke at underground animal holes. (No we do NOT have a cat. This one, which Leah named Hello Kitty, decided to take a walk with us, and then wisely disappeared shortly thereafter.)And now we are exactly 18 days away from the start of our crazy holiday travels. Christmas, here we come!

Pucker up!

Thanks

Why do I feel like Thanksgiving is going to to come and go so uneventfully this year? Turkey? Check. Shrimp dip? Check. White Christmas and chocolate pie? Check.

I think it's because there won't be any of thisor this
or this
or this
But I will get lots of this...
and I'm not going to complain about that.

What I Learned Today

A GPS system is no good if the battery dies.

This website has some dresses I would love to see delivered on my doorstep.

Adam is weighing in at 14 pounds 13 ounces (double his birth weight!) and is a whopping 26 inches long! No wonder we don't fit in the rocker very well anymore.

Missionaries love spaghetti and meatballs.

Having said missionaries over for dinner does not prevent Leah from stripping down naked in the bathroom and loudly declaring, "Mom! I pooped two big poops!"

Dishes don't disappear if you ignore them... I guess I've known that one for a while, just hoping the facts had changed. No such luck.

Mini Milestone

I glanced over at Adam today, and caught him doing this! Yes, my now four month old son is sitting up in his swing! And look at that concentration. What a little stud.

Okay, that might be grasping at straws, but even mini-milestones are so exciting at this stage. I just love watching him go from helpless lump to a little man of action! And I feel I should explain that, no, Adam does not spend all of his time in the swing. It just usually happens that he's in the swing when I have two free hands with which to take pictures.

Four Months

Resists all naps unless timed perfectly and in the swing (preferably), gnaws on anything he can get his gums on, tummy time pro, has made peace with his carseat, loves Crazy Duck.

Perfect little man. We love you.

Where We Live

We did another exploration outing this weekend- this time to discover the Wabash River.Baby Savanna had to come with us.
I love (and am learning) that for kids, a free afternoon at a local park is just as entertaining as an expensive activity!

Yard Work

Living in a house, even if you don't own it, means yard work! Or yard play, or just yard work-watching!

Friday Night Fun

It actually started in the afternoon with, "This is so we can take the bread and water."
After spending the WHOLE week in the house with two mildly sick kids, we went to the library yesterday. Story time is interesting again!
"You be Grandpa and I'll sit in your canoe and you can row me."And my personal favorite- "Get her off of me!!!"

The Chronicles of Farmer J

A couple of weeks ago I was driving to the farm and I got stuck behind this beast (minus the row head which was on a truck):



The picture below is to give you a sense of how big this thing is. The wheels were as tall as our Chrysler Pacifica and this combine can mow down 12 rows of corn at a time like it's nobody's business. FYI, it also comes equipped with a GPS system that tells it exactly where the rows are (also used for precision planting) and a computer for keeping track of yield, seed moisture, etc.



After watching this thing maneuver around mile marker posts at 40mph (yes, they can go that fast) because the road wasn't wide enough, I started getting the itch to drive a combine. So, this morning I hopped onto this combine:



It's not quite as big as the John Deere 9870 STS Corn Combine, but it's still pretty intimidating when you're sitting in the cab watching it chew through three rows at a time and watching it convert 7-foot tall corn plants to mulch (as seen in the picture below).



After this morning I'm amazed at the extent to which technology facilitates agriculture. The field that got harvested this morning would have easily taken four people 2-3 days to harvest plus 3-4 days to shell.

As a final thought, I was driving home from the field on Friday afternoon and passing field after field of corn and soybeans and realized that I am a long way from where I thought would be 5 years ago...and I'm okay with that. Besides, I kind of like being called Farmer J.

Bathtime Quickie

Just another cute picture

Lunchtime conversation-

Leah: Mom, where does Heavenly Father live? (we have a lot of conversations about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ these days)

Me: He lives in heaven.

Leah: No, Mom. He lives in the temple!

When we were at the temple last week, I explained to her that the temple is Heavenly Father's home on earth. I didn't even think she was listening. Much like I didn't think she was listening when I let out a well deserved expletive a few weeks ago and she started yelling it in the kitchen yesterday. Oops.

But my favorite moment of the day was when Adam was resisting a nap and I told Leah to go talk to him for a minute. She is such a nurturing big sister- not only did she talk to him, she got a step stool, tucked up his blanket, replaced his pacifier and sang him a song. It was so so sweet.

Who's Who?

I thought Adam's pose from the last post looked familiar!

Breathe Much?

Adam loves to fall asleep with blankets pulled over his face. I prefer to keep them tucked down around his shoulders. Maybe that's why he's refusing to take a nap right now.

Temple Trip

We took a day trip to the Chicago temple this weekend, and with the exception of a car battery that had died in the night, downtown traffic, and a major potty accident that required a trip to the store for new clothes AND SHOES, it was a success!

Videos

Since we can't seem to Skype when Adam is awake, and lest you think Leah is really so quiet (ha ha), a few videos for you.

Leah is getting really good at reciting nursery rhymes.


And Adam is getting really good at standing. This video looks like Jason is pulling him up, but he's standing on his strong little legs!


Jason can get Adam laughing pretty good!

Dreaming Big

Already?

It was a long day at the office...

*

Leah categorizes small children into two categories- those who can talk are little kids, and those who can't are babies. She must be getting tired of her "baby" brother, because her latest game is, "Let's pretend Adam can talk".

I, on the other hand, am overwhelmed by the sudden increase of "features"- I'm constantly asking questions like-

You can hold your head up this high on your tummy?

You can stand on Daddy's lap?

The drool buckets are coming?!
You can play with toys? And eat them?
I'm just trying to savor every day- they're going by too fast.

Blame

Mr. Butler is teaching us so much. Upon inspection of Leah's room tonight, Mr. Butler noticed a pile of shirts that I had taken from her dresser and left on the floor. Leah wasn't about to have her clothes taken away.

She quickly said, "No... Mr. Butler... that's her mess!"

Fair enough.

Portrait of a Weekend

Daddy does a puppet show
Leah watches intently.
Is it the return of the tongue?!
Asleep in the car
Leah paints

Halloween Shirts Make Me Smile