Case the Prodigy

Here's Case playing the piano at PawPaw and Memaw's.

The Neighborhood Fair

Josh took Case to the fair near us. He had a great time - petting animals including the 4-horned ram AND he got to ride a pony!

Stillwater Friends

We had some friends from Stillwater drop by on Mother's Day. We were going to go to the Bedlam Baseball game together, but I was sick. Josh took his cousin's husband instead. Jason and Melissa stopped by first though so I could see their little baby girl Soriah. She's so cute!

The Dog Park

Last week, we decided to take Newman to the dog park. Padme didn't get to go ) : She hated the dog park in Arizona - we had to take her out of it before she tried to eat some poor dog. Since I was feeling decent, we went to lunch first. Case loves chips and queso! Then we went to Petsmart. Newman was wild in there. Case loves the pet store - seeing the fish and birds especially. We had to leave when Newman decided to mark his territory in the store.
The dog park was great! The brown dog Sierra tried to play with Newman, but he wasn't interested. He mainly just ran around and swam on his own. The black wolf dog was named Dakotah. Dakotah was the police-dog-he thinks its his job to make sure all dogs behave in the park. Some dog came over and was messing with Newman right when we got there. Dakotah came right over and put a stop to the picking on Newman. Then later on, Newman was getting wound up and running around crazy. Dakotah came over and got onto him to calm down. It was so funny. Sierra's mommy said that Dakotah comes to the park everyday and enforces the rules of the park. Nice.

Attempt at some Family Pics

This past Sunday, we all were well, we were all ready early so we decided to take a few pictures before we left for church. Case usually ignores the camera when we pose. Josh got me this dress for Mother's Day - isn't it pretty? He usually picks out great clothes!

Special Case Moments

Case has been funny and cute today (I know, I know, you might wonder when is he not??!!). He likes to play down in the sunroom. I went down there to check on him today and he had managed to get up into the lawn chair and was just sitting back relaxing. When I went down later to check on him, he was laying in the chair.
We did a little sign language with Case around the time he was a year old. The only signs he still uses are "all done" and "dog". Until today. He work up from his morning nap, and was making the sign for "more" and saying "more". What??!! I think he dreamed about it. We haven't used that sign in ages. He was with Josh's cousin, grandma, and cousin yesterday so maybe they used it. Hmmm...I'll have to ask them. Whatever the reason, Case has used it all day. Even when he doesn't need to.

Laundry Time, Anybody?

Since I've been so sick lately, we've gotten a bit behind on the laundry and the housework. These pictures show our dire situation as of yesterday. Case was about out of clothes (which is shocking when you look at the amount he has!) and out of bibs. He had to wear a small bib he used when he was about 6 months. In the pictures, he's "sweeping" - he's become quite the little helper. I got this wonderful, magical medicine from my doctor and today have felt the best for about 3 weeks. So today I actually started laundry! And there was much rejoicing in the Nichols household!

Future Big Brother

We were going to wait and share the news in a couple of weeks, but since I've been so sick, I had to fess up at work. I'm due at the end of December. We are excited. Ultrasound pictures will be posted soon of the little peanut : )
Here's the shirt we made for Casen. The one where he's looking to the side: he was watching Josh.

Some Good Exam Answers

It doesn't matter what the questions were on the test....here's two answers I got on an Earth Science test:

1. I don’t know either of them I am writing so I can give myself a chance and hope you don’t read the test.

2. The river water going into the ocean is a very special part of the circle of life.

I wish I could give points for answers that make me smile or laugh during grading...sigh.

Things Case Loves....

I felt like I needed a list to balance out the last list : )

1. Dogs. Pictures of dogs. Actual dogs. Dogs on TV. Hearing Dogs. Dogs are the best.

2. Wait, dogs aren't the best. Daddy is the best! Seeing Daddy coming home through the front storm door, Case goes wild. He starts yelling and banging on the door.

3. Waking Daddy or Mommy up. You ask him if he wants to wake Daddy/Mommy up. He whispers, "Momma/Daddy?" Then he is so excited to go into the room and squeal for joy.

4. Music. TV. Toys. Mommy's ITouch hooked into speakers. Anything that has some rhythm so he can dance.

5. Books. He likes to be read to. He likes to "read" to himself (he actually turns the pages and talks to himself - can you tell I'm a proud Mama??!!). He likes to carry around books. Right now, there's probably 20 books in our living room that he carried in here.

6. Loud toys. Anything that makes noise is a great way to get Mama's attention.

7. Pictures. Pictures people send us. He looks at Immie and Bunny's photo books quite a lot.

8. Phone. He talks on the phone now. He'll talk to someone, but he'll also just pretend to talk to someone. He walks around the house with the phone to his ear and babbles and every once in awhile says, "Ummm...."

9. Food. That boy's appetite is back full force now that he's well.

10. Outside. Walking around. Sitting out there. Picking dandelions. Bird-watching then scaring the birds away by yelling, "Dog!" Whatever the activity, being outside is preferred.

Things That Casen Is Afraid Of....

1. Black cats. Any other cat or dog or any animal for that matter is fine. But a black cat? He screams in terror and runs towards me. Every time, Memaw's cat ran by us, the screaming started.

2. Car alarm. Case likes to play with my car keys - and hit that red button that is so tempting. Even though every time he hits it, the panic button goes off on the car, and Case runs in terror to my arms. He hasn't connected that pushing the button causes that awful sound to go off.

3. Any sudden, mechanical, loud noise. Train going by. Helicopter in the sky. Both of these cause Case to pause at least and run to me.

4. Getting caught red-handed. If Case gets caught doing something he is not supposed to do (e.g. opening up a drawer, getting into my purse, pulling the battery charger out of the wall, you get the picture), he runs full speed to Josh or me (whoever caught him) and wraps himself around our legs. It saves him him a lot of the time.

Cousins!

We didn't get cousin pics with Graeson this time, but we did get some cute shots of the little cousins: Jaci, Case, and Jarrit.

Some faves of Case

These are pics that Sheri took of Case 2 weekends ago when we went to visit Graeson. Can you tell he's getting onerier? We have been blessed to be able to visit family a lot. I think Case remembered people and places this time. As soon as we walked into Mamaw and Papa's, he got a big smile on his face. He went straight to the toys. Then at Pawpaw and Memaw's, he seemed to remember all the animals that are there and he wanted to walk around outside. It's fun to see him remember his family. He's already making memories!

Big Josh and Jaci

Jacilayne, my niece, is starting to warm up to Josh and me - or at least remembers us when we see her. This past time, she let both Josh and I hold her some. She is such a joy - I'm so thankful Case has a cousin like her!

I'm Back..

It's been a wild last few weeks. I survived my first full year of teaching. Then a terrible stomach virus hit our family - especially me. For those of you know about what happened at our Kristmas in Kansas awhile back - it was reminiscent of that. Not as bad this time; I didn't feel the need to make my peace with God - I didn't think I was going to die.
Anyway, tomorrow I'm going to attempt to go to work for a bit and get some stuff done that got pushed back a week ago.
Today, was my first full weekday home with Case for the summer vacation (without being sick and me just home). It was exhausting, but fun. I think my favorite part of the day was when Case gave me a kiss when I asked for one. He usually just laughs and shouts, "No!" as he shakes his head. Today, he looked like he was thinking about doing his usual response, but then decided to give me a kiss. Sweet boy.

Graeson

We got to see Graeson when he was one week old. So precious.

Graeson Wade

My nephew was born last week - isn't he precious!!??