So that's how it goes!

We were having a serious conversation with AJ the other evening about death (I don't even know how we got on the subject) and were explaining to her in an age appropriate way that death is inevitable.

CJ's input into the conversation was the comic relief that we needed -
"AJ here's how it goes - you go to tenth grade, then you go to high school, then you're a grandma, then you die!"

It's always interesting when you get a little glimpse into how they think...

Firsts

We've had a couple of very interesting "firsts" in our house over the last couple of days - "first steps" and "first foreign body inserted into the nose"!

EJ took her first step to Eric as he went to get her out of her crib the other morning, and then today while she was in child care at church they said she took 4 steps in a row and then stopped and grinned at everyone as if to say "wasn't that the coolest thing ever?" I personally haven't seen her take any steps and I'm waiting anxiously to confirm the reported phenomena.

We were reading books the other afternoon while the kids had a snack and AJ suddenly said "Mom, my nose really hurts!" My queries about her nose were answered in very vague terms until her ever helpful brother piped in with "Did you stick your snack up your nose??" and AJ said "Yeah! Somebody get the raisin out of my nose please!" Thankfully the offending object was easily removed! And now AJ is telling everyone "It's a bad idea to put raisins in your nose!"

Here in Texas we're hoping that Hurricane Ike will not become any of the "firsts" it could be. The XO will most likely be at work until the storm has passed since he is helping with the coordination of medical resources for the shelters, etc. Keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Here's Some Pics (finally)

AJ striking a pose at the Science Treehouse at the Witte Museum.

CJ doing what he does best, making noise!

The Witte Museum is the only museum we've ever taken the kids to that actually held their attention for more than an hour. We were there for 3 hours and they complained when it was time to leave!

The 8 1/2 month old tornado known as EJ.

This little one has been by far the most challenging of the three at this age. I timed her today and she can make it up both flights of stairs and into her siblings' room in less than 75 seconds! She can also open all of the drawers on the dressers, get into the entertainment center and "adjust" the sound, and push the office chairs all around the house - all skills that the other two didn't develop until after 12 months. It's going to be very interesting around here in a few months. I signed AJ up for gymnastic lessons, maybe I should have enrolled EJ too!

Technophobes

These comments by the kids recently made me chuckle and also made me think about how much a part of our culture technology has become...

CJ loves to tell really long, detailed stories when we're traveling in the truck. This is the conversation we had the other day:
"Momma, you wanna hear a story?"
"Sure, buddy."
"OK, but you'll have to wait a minute. It's going to take a while to download."

And then about 15 minutes into his story Ana pipes in with "CJ can you push pause on your story for a minute? I need to say something."

I've been wanting to set up the video camera in the vehicle and post a video of one of his stories. I'll have to do that soon. Y'all would think he was hysterical!

It's Official

The NP gave us a "90% sure" answer on the "flavor" of the soon to arrive addition last month, but we wanted to get the "200% guarantee" from the OB before sharing with the world (or at least the 3 people who read our blog). So, it's official - the newest member of the family will be a boy! Tentative name available on request. But it may not be all that tentative since the older kids have already started calling him by his nickname. We're all anxiously awaiting his arrival in early December, some of us more than others!

Legos...

Want a little peace and quiet in your house? Just buy your kids a mess of Legos. We got some yesterday and I've hardly seen the kids since. I had to go hunting for them to take this picture. Now I just need to make sure the younger troops don't try to play with Legos and end up in the ED! It's hard to "baby proof" when you've got older kids.

I'm Half a Year Old!

Aren't I cute???