Gabe's antics

Gabe: Hey, Mom! How's it goin'?
Mommy: Sweetie, will you do your newest trick?
G: Hmmmm...(munches on bottom lip while he thinks)








G: Nope, I'm going to play with this ball instead.
M: Please??? (Wheedling)














G: Okay, here goes! I'll even look at the camera if I can play with toys afterward.
M: It's a deal. Wow, look at you! Good job, Gabriel!
(If you can't tell, he's using only his feet and hands and has some serious clearance under his tummy.)

Matt the Handyman (just like Bob the Builder!)

On Saturday, Matt pulled out the work gloves and put in new kitchen countertops. We had gotten approval from our landlords, and I was SO EXCITED! The old countertops were beyond ghetto...I probably won't believe if you say yours are worse than those ones. Matt started by ripping out the old ones. Wow, it looked like a disaster area!

Unfortunately, the stock countertops that are supposed to fit everything didn't fit...most things about our house are uneven or installed oddly (like the bedroom fan which has no inside switch, so it has to be turned on and off from the breaker outside), so it shouldn't have been a surprise. That meant a lot of extra work for Matt as he custom fit the counters. He did a fantastic job!

I LOVE my new counters! I can't count how many times since Saturday I have walked into the kitchen just to admire them. Even more exciting is the fact that I can put food on the counters without paint flaking off and attaching itself to our food! (Yeah, I told you they were ghetto before!)

Love those toes!

Julie, I hope this post doesn't drive you away from our blog forevermore!

Quite possibly my favorite part of a baby's body is the foot, or more specifically, those darling toes! They are teeny tiny and perfect. Even when they get bigger, they're fun. I love cleaning between Gabe's toes! (How does he get dirt there, by the way? Perhaps when I think he's napping, he has secretly hopped out of bed and is running around outside.)

Who needs Disneyland...

...when you have laundry baskets? Our neighbors are heading to Disneyland for some Halloween fun, and I was wondering what age is a great age for taking kids to a place like that. For now, Naomi is thrilled with a carousel. And Gabe...well, Gabe just likes riding around in a laundry basket!

We sold our car!

We sold our Ford today. I've never been a huge Ford fan, but it was really a good car for us! I am not an emotional person, so I was surprised to feel a surge of emotion to see someone else drive it away. We've sure had some great memories in that car (both Naomi and Gabe got their first car ride in it!) and in places that car has taken us. Of course, we have the bad memories too (paying to fix something expensive RIGHT after we bought it, having two screaming kids in it, etc.)!!

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, we are thrilled it's gone and we can pay a chunk off our new car loan! Matt's just excited to be able to park his car in the carport again.

Pumpkin fun!

October is pumpkin-carving time! We had a fun evening carving pumpkins with Angie, Richie & Mylie. Thanks, guys! Matt's pumpkin was really cool (should have done a close-up; it's a haunted house with a tree by it). I went with basic triangles - can't mess those up, right?

Naomi had her own pumpkin-decorating event with friends, using stickers, paint, glue, and other random materials to create her masterpiece. She was happy with the outcome...and I am happy with whatever keeps her entertained!!

Powdered sugar addiction

Naomi has a powdered sugar addiction. She discovered the canister with powdered sugar and has learned how to work the latch on it. One morning we were scrambling eggs (or I thought "we were", but apparently "I was") and turned to see her chowing powdered sugar...for breakfast no less!

The first picture shows Naomi at the end of a piano lesson. While I was teaching, Naomi escaped the babysitter and delved into the powdered sugar. The second picture shows Naomi immediately after she informed me that yes, she was aware that we only use powdered sugar for cooking. Then she stuck her hand in the container again and pulled out another heap of powder to shove into her mouth.

Hangin' with Gabe

Here Gabe is displaying his sitting skills. He's occasionally a tad wobbly so I like to have the pillows around him. And of course the picture wouldn't be complete without the drool on his chin. We don't go for picture-perfect here...we're all about how it really is!

Flower lover

Naomi's job is to help put the silverware away. The other day, she said, "Sure I'll help!" Then she proceeded to stand on her bench and take every piece of silverware OUT of the drawer and put it in the dishwasher silverware container. I wasn't watching her, so I turned around and saw this end result, which made me chuckle.

Merrell children

Moments in Utah

We had a great time while we at the Jones house in Utah! Here are pictures from a few fun moments:

Driving to Utah

We went to Utah for Labor Day. It was a nightmare! Naomi apparently has a touch of my extreme motion sickness, and she threw up more times than we could count. As yucky as it was for us, I wanted to cry for her. How do you explain to a 2 year old that she has to stay in her carseat for LOTS more hours of driving?

The 10 hour drive stretched into many more hours...and we finally gave up and spent the night in a Kanab hotel. Here we are the next morning, checking out the wagons outside our room before heading on to Monroe.

Matt saved the day here. He sat in the back of the car for 99.8% percent of the trip. He dealt with the screaming infant who spit out his pacifier over and over. He comforted Naomi, got soaked over and over by her vomit, and sang songs to her. We might have survived the trip without him but I highly doubt it. THANK YOU!!!

I must admit I always thought my parents had some intelligence issues. They knew how carsick I get (apparently one time on a 13 hour drive, the only time I stopped throwing up was when the car was stopped), yet they still stuck me in the car every year and hauled me off to Iowa, California, or some other destination which was states away. I now sympathize with them. There is room for debate: is it worse to throw up for 13 hours or to have someone throwing up on you for 13 hours?

Toddler Olympics

I am an assistant organizer for a moms group here in Tucson, and we have all kinds of fun! We have over 150 members, so the big events are pretty crazy. Last week, in honor of the 2008 Summer Olympic games, we put on our own Toddler Olympics!

I was in charge of the obstacle course. It was staged on a splash pad, and the kids hurdled pool noodles, dashed through tunnels of spraying water, and weaved around buckets. (The younger tots opted to wave the pool noodles around instead of jumping over them. That just meant the kids behind them had a different obstacle: getting through without being smacked with a pool noodle!) Above is a picture of Naomi and I leading off the obstacle course event.

Other events included races (airplane, backwards, hopping, etc.) and a ball toss. When the kids needed some down time, they painted hats (see Naomi below). And once they were all done with the events, they received a medal and an Otter Pop (see Taylor below).

The cunning of a 2.5 year old

Yesterday Naomi trotted into our bedroom and said "Daddy wants to put on a movie for me!". Thinking Matt had a specific reason for wanting to do that, I said, "Okay!" Then Matt came into the room laughing and told me the whole story.

Earlier in the living room, Naomi had said, "Daddy, can I watch a movie?"

Matt said, "Let's go ask Mommy."

Apparently my 2.5 year old already knows how to manipulate language well enough to get the answers she wants. I knew I should have taken that debate course in college...

Naomi's bench

Grandpa Jones made this bench for Naomi, and she hauls it all over the house. She also uses it to reach things which are best not reached!

Winnie the Pooh

We attended storytime with Winnie the Pooh at the University of Arizona bookstore early in August. Naomi colored pictures of Pooh & Friends characters, and she held hands and danced with Pooh Bear; unfortunately I didn't get pictures of the dancing!

Sibling love

Impromptu hand-holding is always fun to witness!

Naomi's artwork

We haven't posted in awhile. What to tell you...how about Naomi's latest art projects?

Crayon on fabric (cleanup pictured)...and crayon on whatever material is used for oven doors (not pictured). As she would say, "Naughty naughty!".

Tact

Matt's view on men and tactfulness:

"Guys have tact. Girls just don't think that guys have tact."

Yummmmmmy BBQing

BBQ season is definitely here for us! Matt got a grill for Father's Day, and we've done some yummy stuff on it so far. We also have lots more plans for great food on the grill. This picture is from last week when we grilled:

steaks (thanks, parents!)
corn on the cob (very good on the grill)
pineapple (can't get enough of that!!)

Tucson Children's Museum

Tucson Children's Museum is expensive. Or I'm a cheapskate. But I'm not willing to pay $7.50 per adult so we can follow Naomi around and sit while she plays. Luckily, during the summer the museum puts on Monsoon Mondays and allows everyone in for the evening for the rock bottom price of $1.00 per person. Now THAT's worth it!

Here are some pictures from a couple weeks ago. Naomi likes to drive the fire truck, play on the crazy musical instruments, watch the huge dinosaurs as their heads move, play with trains, brush the gigantic set of teeth with an equally gigantic toothbrush, play in the farmer's market, stack blocks in the jungle room, and much more!

Swinging at the park

Here is little man Gabriel. He's swinging outside! I took Naomi to play in the water at the splash park, and Gabe watched us from the swing just a few feet away the entire time. BRILLIANT idea a friend passed along...in fact, I gave away our old swing and got this portable one just so I could do things like this!

Cow Appreciation Day

Cow Appreciation Day at Chik-Fil-A. Dress up like a cow and get free food! I always laugh when I see cows painting "Eat Mor Chikin" signs, so I am happy to support this franchise. And it was lots of fun to make our own cow shirts this morning and watch Naomi dance and jump with an oversized cow!

Outtakes from Sunday's picture session

To get a few decent pictures of kids, you have to take a LOT of pictures. Here are a few outtakes from our picture session.

Naomi smelling Gabe's armpit (really she's diving in for a kiss, but opted to kiss his arm)

Sunday dress clothes!

Here are the Merrell children, sporting their Sunday best!

4th of July

We only took one picture on the 4th of July this year. And here it is! In the evening we bbqed with some friends, played in the pool, and watched fireworks. Naomi and I played with some other friends for two hours in the pool in the morning, so we definitely logged a lot of water time on the 4th! Naomi is on my lap in the picture, and you can see Gabe lying on the blanket.

Gabe rolls over!

This video is from a couple weeks ago. Today he did a couple barrel rolls (from back to tummy, hang out a bit, then continued the roll over to his back again). Sorry to all the non-parents; you probably think we're crazy for getting so excited about a little roll. After looking at our sweet little slug for 2 1/2 months, though, it's exciting to see some action!

Tolkien fans

Our parental influence is already taking effect at Gabe's young age of three months. I caught him checking out our Tolkien books a couple weeks ago...

July is Ice Cream Month!

From the International Dairy Foods Association website:

In 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday of the month as National Ice Cream Day. He recognized ice cream as a fun and nutritious food that is enjoyed by a full 90% of the nation's population. In the proclamation, President Reagan called for all people of the United States to observe these events with "appropriate ceremonies and activities."

EXCELLENT! Root beer day was fun, but as ice cream is my one true love (besides Matthew and my little rugrats), this is DEFINITELY worth a celebration! In case you are also interested in celebrating, here are some specific options:

1 Creative Ice Cream Flavor Day
7 Strawberry Sundae Day
8 Ice Cream Sundae Day
17 Peach Ice Cream Day
20 Ice Cream Day
23 Ice Cream Cone Day
Vanilla Ice Cream Day
25 Hot Fudge Sundae Day
26 Coffee Milkshake Day
28 Milk Chocolate Shake Day

Spitting up

Naomi has seen Gabe spit up for the last couple months. For some reason, today she decided she should also "spit up". So she started taking drinks of milk from her cup and spitting them out on the kitchen floor. Luckily, she's still in the stage where she's completely honest about what's happening. She proudly announced to me exactly what she was doing, so it got cleaned up before the kitchen became a milk pond. We had a little chat about not doing that anymore.

Then she went in the bathroom and "spit up" some more.

Patience. Breathe in, breathe out...

Reading time at the Merrell's

Matt and I absolutely love to read, and I'm hoping to instill that in our kids. We read lots of books with Naomi and Gabriel. The stories hold Naomi's attention, and Gabe is riveted by the pictures. Occasionally I'll tell Naomi we are going to read a story with Gabe, and she says, "Gabe, sit by me!". So he sits by her (as pictured above) and we read a story! This picture specifically is from FHE...or from a day I was feeling remorseful about our lack of FHE's.


Here is a picture of Naomi looking rather like a duck. She's actually diving in to kiss Gabriel on the cheek.