8 months old...

James has officially moved from being a little baby to a big baby. And it has happened overnight.

He can crawl on his knees and is getting fast.

He has four teeth.

He ate minestrone soup for dinner. He loved the beans.

He can pull himself to a stand on the couch.

He got a little panicked tonight when he couldn't see me and he cried out, "mamamamama" until I came into view.

He's Mobile!

Our Little Caterpillar

Wow Nathan

I got the following text message from my husband who was home with James (who has bronchitis) and Nathan.

"I told Nathan this morning to stay upstairs and watch t.v. while James and I took a short nap. He said okay. I put on Baby Mozart for him and litghtly dozed off. Next thing I know, Nathan is tapping on my shoulder saying, "Daddy look!" after which he shoves Popcorn in my face! Our little biologist got into the cage all by himself, fetched the snake woithout hurting it, and delicately carried it upstairs to me."

The Best Way To Unwind After A HArd Day

Introducing...

Popcorn
the baby corn snake
The newest member of our family.

Nathan really likes him. He says, "Ah, look at the cute snake." He is Ken's snake, which he is going to let me borrow for my class. And yes, he is a carnivore and we have some dead baby mice in our freezer.

It's Been A Year

This time last year my family and I were holed up in a hotel room in Austin glued to the news watching as Hurricane Ike raged over our home. (click here for story)

I seems unreal that it was so long and yet not so long ago. We have fixed most of our damage. We have a new roof, siding, fascia, sofit, fence, and deck. We still have a window duck taped together and since it is an odd size we are having trouble finding someone willing to replace just one window. Our garage ceiling still has water damage and we need to find a handyman to fix it, but currently boxes of Jonny and Cassie's stuff is under the spot so we will have to wait until they get an apartment to finish that job (I'm not complaining guys, don't worry).

Obviously, there are a lot of bad memories from that time. But I also have a lot of good memories.

Kenny had to get to work as soon as we returned from Austin and I was left with a high risk pregnancy, two little, boys, no power, and a broken house. I remember the amazing feeling that overcame me when I a crew of men showed up and within 15 minutes had my roof tarped. Another crew came and spent an hour cutting up and removing our downed trees.

I am proud of my little guys and how hard they worked with their Daddy to clean up and rebuild.

I am grateful my husband had the opportunity to put on a yellow Mormon Helping Hands shirt and work at rebuilding people's lives. I am grateful I was able to help amek lunches for the men working and donate supplies to the displaced families lving in our ward building.

The hurricane offered us an opportunity to, literally, let down our fences and really get to know our neighbors.

Most of all, I am so grateful we were able to get through without more damage than we sustained. I am grateful I listened to our prophet and had food and water stored up for my family when there was none to be had unless you went to an aid station. Most of all, I am grateful for the lessons in what is truly important and the eternal perspective evacuating your home teaches you.

What Did You Say?

Kenny's teacher called my room earlier this week busting with laughter.

"Chiara, I'm sorry to interrupt when you are teaching, but I have to share what your son just did. We were walking down the hall on the way back from lunch and Kenny suddenly declared, "Mrs. R, you know that show of all the little funny videos that they put together to make one big funny video show. Have you seen the one where the little boy got the vacuum cleaner stuck on his penis? It was kinda funny." We were passing Mrs. D. class in the hall at the time and each kid in her class said pen** out loud, one at a time, moving backwards down the line. It was like they were passing the word like you would pass a plate. By the 15th kiddo I was like, "Everyone just stop talking!" We got back to the room and I called Kenny over. I told him he was not in trouble but, to which he interrupted, "Oh, I know I'm not in trouble because I can tell by how you are acting, but your going to give me a stern talking to." I told him we are both intelligent people and I am glad he knows the anatomically correct term and that he wasn't trying to say anything inappropriate or derogatory, but first we are not supposed to talk in the hall, and second there are certain things we just don't talk about at school."

That's my boy.

New Love

They were first exposed to it on the Wii. Now the boys have a new love...

archery

We couldn't find any arm guards at the sporting goods store, so we used an old pair of daddy's wool socks and cut the toe off. Kenny was giddy the first time he hit the target.
James remained in the baby swing a safe distance to the right and behind the amateur archers.

Backyard

Before my parents moved to Saudi Arabia my dad built us a new deck. Our old deck was messed up during the hurricane last fall and since my parents had sold their house my father didn't have a yard to work in. We LOVE the deck. Since my house will be the new hang out place for the family when they are in town it will be wonderful to have a place to sit outside and let all the kiddos play. Thank you Dad for all you did!!

Cute babies are my favorite deck accessory!

James and I had a difference of opinion on whether or not he should eat green beans.

He won.