No Picture!

***Just a quick note: Be sure to check out the right side columns as I have added Paige's Milestones and Favorite Jack-isms, which will be updated as needed.

I guess my husband isn't the only one who is getting a little tired of me spending so much time blogging and taking pictures. Jack was pretty adamant that he didn't want any more photos taken of him, yelling "No Picture! No Picture!" when this was taken. And I wonder where he gets his listening skills from (as I clearly didn't listen to him).

A little meditation: Jack spends a lot of time lining his cars up in rows or even in a parade. I love this quiet activity, and it can even be a little hypnotic to watch...or maybe I'm just really tired.

She's so close! This child is very determined to get moving. I wonder what this means for her future personality. Let's hope she stays easy going, but something tells me that she is going to enjoy torturing her brother.

So far, Jack really hasn't paid much attention to Paige, unless she touches him or steals his toys. Paige, however, relishes every bit of affection or conversation with her big brother. She completely lights up when he approaches her, and even when Jack is playing by himself, her eyes rarely leave him. I was lucky enough to catch Jack playing with her and even to take pictures without disrupting them, and you can see that she is ecstatic!. I hope that as Paige grows and gets to be more "fun", Jack will really enjoy playing with her without encouragement. (Then they will probably gang up on me, forcing me to eat my words!)

Today we went to the America the Beautiful park downtown. I'm including many pictures, just because it really is very beautiful set against the mountains. My very amateur photography really doesn't do it justice (especially since it was so crowded), but one can kind of get the idea from my photos. How lucky are we to live so near such a breath taking view?

The spinning fountain

Jack used to be a little afraid of this park...doesn't like water, but each time we come here he gets more and more brave. The nice thing about being able to play in this fountain is that the water doesn't spray you in face and they have lifeguards. There is also a very cool playground nearby, which makes a great alternative to the fountain if one has a hydrophobic kid. I didn't get many pictures of Jack playing in the water because he wanted me with him, but here is a a pretty cute one:

Oh boy! These two could be trouble.

This is Baby Luke, who just turned one, and he is also a contender to be Paige's future boyfriend...as long as he stops taking her binky!

I had a little "fight" with Jack regarding his hat. He had a very strong opinion against it, and I felt very strongly that he must wear it. Guess who won.

Jamie told me to cut the crusts off of Jack's PB&Js since he didn't seem to like them very much. I tried it, thinking he would take a bite or two then be done, but nope, he ate most of his sandwich. Guess I'll be cutting the crusts off his sandwiches from now on.

Paige didn't love the park today, and neither did Baby Luke. It was way too hot for the babes.

Jack's just giving Madi a pat

It was just too stinking hot! There were no protests from anyone when we decided to go home. What a nice change to have everyone agree! (I think Jack has a little crush on Miss Jamie...he always wants to hold her hand, and sometimes I hear him sing, "Madi's mom has got it going on...".)

When we got home from playgroup and he still hadn't fallen asleep in the car, I thought our chances of him getting a good nap was pretty high. He did fall asleep in his crib, but an hour later he was crying for me to get him some milk. As it turns out, it was fine, because we got a visit from Grandma Rosie.

As excited as Jack was to see his Grandma, he didn't want to take a picture with her, give a hug, a kiss, a high five, nor a fist bump...what a stinker. As I'm loading this picture on the computer, he is asking me to take a picture with Grandma Rosie....two year olds!

Red Door

This weekend was a busy one...for Rich. He has been so antsy to do little projects around the house, which always makes me nervous (see first entry regarding fireplace...which isn't finished yet). So when he started priming the front door yesterday, there was a small (large) part of me that worried our front door would remain primer grey for the next few weeks (year). As annoying as it would be to me, I think our neighbor, Travis, would be so unhappy about it that he would have a"door painting" party at 3 am some Saturday, and unfortunately it would be under the strong influence of "adult beverages" so one can imagine what it would look like. Luckily for me, Travis, and our door, Rich did have a sense of urgency to get the door (and shutters) painted.

He was in such a hurry, though, he forgot to put sunscreen on, so now not only are the door and shutters a nice brick red, but so is his neck, arms, and legs. Red door, red neck. He really needs more hobbies that aren't going to stress me out.

I could hardly stand to watch Rich up on the roof at this point: I just kept thinking my children would never really know their father. Soon after this photo was taken, he pulled the shutters off the house and painted them in the safety of our driveway.

This is the finished product...Looks pretty good!

While Rich was slaving in the heat, the kids and I hung out with our neighbors from across the street and next door.

Jack needs his caffeine fix before playing with neighbor girls...they have a lot of energy!

Patrolling for cats in trees

Lunch with Jaiden and Madi

That's just Travis. A picture really explains more than words can.

Hitching a ride

Whoa! Crazy woman driver!

Hmm...I wonder why the house across the street is for sale?

Jamie: Travis's loving and patient wife/mother to Jaiden and Madi

Maggie: loving and patient wife of Jarrod/mother to Megan

Megan making sure the mower is up to code (or trying to drink the bubbles)

Don't worry, she qualified for an early learner's permit

It never hurts to use a little caution

After the festivities at the neighbors house ended (when Jack had to take a nap), we went to see Brent, Tracy, Hayden, and new Baby Aislinn (pronounced Ashlyn) who was born on July 17th. She is so adorable! It's hard to remember Miss Paige being so new and little.

Proud Brent, and unsure Hayden

Finally, a vertical Tracy...after how many weeks of bed rest?

Then to end with, since Baby girl isn't in any of these early pictures, I thought I would do a little slide show with just her. She was especially hamming it up for the camera last night.

Obedience Training

Who doubts that I love Penny?

Anyone who has known Rich or I before kids entered the picture will know that our first kids are actually our dogs Bailey (Bailey Suzanne Rachel Kimberly Eastland) and Penny (Penelope Eleanor Samantha Christine Judith Eastland). They are beagles, a truly loving and sweet breed, however very strong willed, loud, and energetic. Once kids entered the picture, Bailey and Penny became just dogs to me (I think Rich still considers them his children, but he didn't get the hormonal changes that come with child birth), and at first I struggled to find enough love and attention for them. Needless to say, the little training Bailey had as a young dog, and the barely existent training Penny received had not been maintained, and slowly they have become more and more out of control. When our neighbors, whom we love and consider good friends, told us to stop apologizing and just do something about them, I realized that the only reason that we hadn't been cited by the county was out of the goodness of our neighbors' hearts. Ok, so I went to the library and checked out 5 books about dog training and beagles. I've read a little of a few of them, and have started working with the girls a little each day, and I have also started regularly walking with them and the kids (in their wagon...we sure get some looks with 2 dogs, 2 kids, and 1 struggling woman pulling this circus). I have already seen some improvement, and I think walking them wears them out enough that they don't look for mischief.

At least Bailey is sitting, right?

Well Jack really enjoys their training, because whenever I make the girls crash (down) and stay, he sits and stays, too. Once as a joke to myself, I gave him a graham fish cracker (what he calls "fishy cookie") when I gave the girls their "cookies" after staying for the given time. So now when he sees me giving the dogs their orders, he comes running and sits down with them, all three waiting patiently for their treats. What have I done? I guess there really is something to all of this Pavlov stuff!

Paige at dinner tonight

Who could say no to this face?

I saw my first movie in over a year in an actual theater last night. My mom and sister came down for the night and asked Rich if they could borrow me for a few hours to see Mamma Mia. It was soooo much fun. Mom and Den had seen it twice before on stage and were fairly familiar with the soundtrack (Deni more than Mom, but not knowing the words to a song would never stop Mom from singing to it!). When we got to the theater, I reminded them who drove them there, so there would be absolutely no singing from them. It wouldn't have mattered if they did, as other people in the audience were singing and even dancing at the end of the movie. It was a super trooper fun movie...very feel good, and I even burned a copy of Mom's CD for myself. Poor Rich is going to get really sick of those Abba songs!

Poor Rich had grand plans (after the kids went to bed) of drinking sour apple Pucker, running through the sprinklers in our backyard in his underwear with our neighbor Travis, and I'm pretty sure that sparklers were going to be involved (yes ladies, I picked him out all by myself...don't be jealous). However, the festivities were thwarted by Miss Paige cutting teeth. She has a little fever, but it comes down with Motrin. So Rich had a decision to make: put on an amateur show for the neighbors, or step up and take care of his daughter. Luckily we don't have any sour apple Pucker, so a good choice was made. (I love giving you a hard time, Rich.)

Auntie and Petunia

Second Chances

When I got an email from Rich a couple of days ago regarding a fascinating website he found online, I expected some interesting photos of geological wonders or maybe a list of cheap activities in the Denver area. However, what he found was a sad little blog of his own family with only one post- written almost 4 months ago. Uggh, how embarrassing! I know he was pretty surprised to see unauthorized photos of this family on the interweb (yes, I used this word as a joke). I expected a fair amount of teasing, but he merely asked me why I hadn't updated my blog. So I explained that I am little insecure about sharing my writing, thoughts, and blah blah blah with the world, and would never have a blog as good as my friend Esther's (which is awesome, by the way). So Rich told me that I need only to do this for myself, and don't make myself so crazy to make this perfect and beautiful blog that I would give it up entirely because it won't ever be totally perfect. What he said makes sense, so I am giving it a second try. (See Honey, I really do listen to you!) If nothing else, this will be a good way to record these precious early memories of this young family.

So, we just returned from Florida last week, and had a wonderful visit with my Dad and Donna. Paige finally met her Smith grandparents, and she warmed up to them right away (so did Jack, thanks to our webcam). Jack loved walks and golf cart rides with his grandpa, but I think his favorite was playing outside with grandpa on the lanai (sp?) in extreme heat and humidity...it's amazing how he doesn't notice when he is totally drenched with sweat, but if you try to give the kid a torn piece of cheese, he tells you that it's dirty and throws it in the trash. I was really proud of him, though, he got out of his comfort zone and went into the pool (clinging desperately to me the whole time) without crying. He even charged into the ocean without an adult within arms reach (much to our anxiety). Paige was born to adapt, I swear! She just loved the water, squealing, and kicking the whole time. Something tells me that The Little Mermaid will become a favorite in this house!

During our trip we were able to help Dad celebrate his 60th birthday by throwing him a surprise party. It was a huge success thanks to all of Donna's hard work and planning. Who knew that all those old folks knew how to party? Just kidding Dad, you're not that old!

After a tearful goodbye and a very smooth trip on the plane (did I mention that I have the best kids ever?), we made it back home. Less than 24 hours later, Jack came down with Ebola. Ok, not Ebola, but almost as bad (a non specific virus including pink eye, a fever ranging from 103 to 105, diarrhea, lethargy, and nasal congestion). Over a week later, he is just now returning to "Toddler Jack" and "Demon Jack" has mostly been exercised (though to be honest, the line separating the two Jacks hardly exists). So far, the rest of us have stayed Ebola free, although Baby Girl is a little warm tonight. Fingers crossed, she is just cutting teeth.

Most recent milestones for Miss Paige include rolling over both ways, sitting on her own (thus able to take wagon rides), pulling herself up to her knees, and rocking back and forth on all fours. I keep telling her that it's too soon for this, but she persists anyway. She is in such a hurry to catch up with Big Brother, and once she does, Jack better watch out (for his toys)!