We Are Crazy

After weeks of cold, bad weather...we decided it was a good idea to go to the mall...on a weekend with everybody else in the city area at the mall...and every kid in the city area in the play area.

I brought sonic drinks (imagine carrying 3 Route 44's through the parking lot, through the mall, up the elevator, and through a mob of strollers and kids).

Needless to say, Case hit the jackpot when we went into the Disney store: scoring Bambi and a ball!

So after 2 meltdowns by Casen (but it wasn't his fault - some other crazy person brought BALLOONS into the play area), we made it to the cars. Jaci and Case carried by Josh.

JJ and Liam

Oh how sweet that Liam has such a great JJ!!!

Jaci and Case time,

They are so much fun to watch play....can anyone say, "Hams!" ??

OSU Fans Anyone?

Was it OSU game day? Nope.

Just gotta love the Pokes!

You Know Its Bad When...

...a physicist gets onto a student for his significant digits.

So today a physicist professor I work with told his students that 4 decimal places given by Excel is NOT significant. Usually, I hear comments from his office like, "Oh, we don't worry about significant digits like THOSE chemists." Chemists are sticklers about sig figs (significant figures for all you non-scientists), but physicists could usually care less.

Apparently, 4 decimal places is where a physicist draws the line.

A Boy and His Pig Named Cow

Meet Casen and a pig named Cow. Cow and Casen like to rock in the baby's seat.
They also like to play with Cat. Cat lives with Bunny and Immie.

Immie thinks its funny to feed Cow a bottle....

and apparently Cow wasn't satisfied with a bottle. He needed the real thing: a Sonic drink.

But save some for Casen.

Me and My Boys

Some of these are from the Science Museum we went to last month...others are from just hanging out.

Casen Sledding on His Birthday

Some more pictures of Casen's first time sledding.

Bath Time and Musings From a Mama

Liam loves a bath. You can see his body relax as he sits in the warm water. He looks around - the faucet and the mirror catch his eye. He stares at himself or me in the mirror. Liam smiles. Casen liked watching Liam taking a bath - he talked sweet to him and also touched the water a few times. Casen also asked if he could get into the bath - first the sink bath then the tub (he had just taken a bath himself).

It wasn't until these pictures that I realized Liam is gett'in chubby! Sweet cute baby boy. Liam wasn't skinny when he was born but he definitely wasn't chubby like Case was when he was born. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we induced a week earlier with Liam so he didn't have as much time to fatten up. Now that he is putting on more weight, he looks even more like Casen's baby pictures.

Times like these are reminding me of similar times with Casen. It's only been 2 years, but I've already forgotten some things about Casen being a baby. That's probably good at times. I forgot how tired I was when Case was a newborn. Until today. I'm tired a lot of the time, and its difficult to balance time with two kids and a husband now (and the rest of life). Then I remembered after Josh reminded me the first 3 months with Casen. It was the same way. I actually think I was zombie-like closer to 6 months (Case didn't sleep long periods of time for awhile). But an amazing thing happens. You forget about the hard times. They pass from your mind as you make more and more happy memories. My dad told me that when he was talking about not remembering much of the hard times when we were babies. So some things I'm remembering about Casen's early life isn't necessarily great (except it's encouraging because I know it gets easier), but I also am remembering precious memories. Giving Liam a bath reminded me of Casen. When he was a newborn, he would lay in his bathtub sling and just relax as well. He would swing his leg out of the sling and put it in the water. Case was so very calm in the bath. I can picture his sweet little face at that age.

I'm so thankful for my two boys. They bring such joy into our lives. I'm also thankful that God is teaching me some things (more than once) about focusing on the blessings in life.

Big Ben and Little Ben

Gram calls my dad Ben. She (along with Mamaw sometimes) calls Liam Benjamin Little Ben.

Snow Days

Being cooped up inside is difficult for all of us. We go somewhere everyday usually. With the crazy winter weather we've had this year and having a newborn, we've been home a lot. One day, I figured Casen deserved a treat for being such a trooper and staying home so much: A tent! He loved it.

1. He usually just got in it though if I got inside with him.

2. Casen would tell me to go asleep inside the tent and then would come up and scare me awake.

3. He LOVED eating his "snacks" inside the tent - fruit snacks.

4. He wanted me to bring Liam inside the tent. I told him Liam had to be a little older before he got to do that.

5. Case liked to play peek-a-boo from outside the tent while I sat inside.

That last picture was taken later in the day. I thought it was funny. Case likes order. He lines his cars up in straight lines. He also groups his toys together. Here, he put all his animals on his train. Sometimes, he puts his farm animals along with his wolverine bobble head (which he calls Daddy, yes, that's right, I like to think he believes that Hugh Jackman looks like his Daddy...Daddy bought him the bobble head which Case thinks is pretty cool!) on his big yellow tonka truck and hauls them around the living room. (And I just realize that I really need to get a picture of that next time he does it. haha)

Sleeping Child

As I blog, Liam is curled up on my chest sleeping away. The best thing about this age? Cuddling with him as he sleeps.

Casen's Birthday

Due to Liam's birth occuring only a month before Casen's birthday, Casen's birthday party will be later this month. We still wanted to do something special with Casen on his day though. Josh, Liam, and I took him to lunch where he got a corn dog, fries, and an icecream. Every little boy's favorite. Then Josh took him sledding. I was busy with Liam in the car so I didn't get out to take any more pictures of Case, but I think he had a lot of fun. He didn't last real long - he was cold! Then we went to Immie and Bunny's to watch him open up some gifts they gave him - a book and a horse! As the evening progessed, all that pop he was drinking was fueling his energy levels. He was jumping from the couch onto a pile of pillows - a game Josh showed him at our house awhile back. Oh the picture of Case and me asleep is during his nap after his sledding. He was worn out, and I have been since Liam's arrival. Thankfully, the tiredness is worth it - I have two great little boys!