Happy Birthday Christen

Happy Birthday to my sister Christen. Coleman an d I decided to sing to you so you can imagine we are there with you. Now you can blow out the candles on your cake! Wish we could be there to celebrate with you.

Learning How To Be a Big Brother

Coleman is learning what it means to be a big brother and how very important that role is. He loves to pat and kiss Eliza's head, take a bath with her, show her his trains and share them with her, and of course sing to her. He also likes to boss her around "don't bite that Eliza". Or boss me around "Baby's frying (crying) Mama."

Coleman has a list of words that he chooses to say his way even though he can say them the correct way:

Frain = train
fruck = truck
canana = banana
flease = please
forn = corn
Casiah = Josiah
finkle = Twinkle
wittle = little
fry = cry
Fwatamala = Guatamala

I find myself saying them his way to him because they are so cute. Jared told me I need to stop so he doesn't keep saying them incorrectly.

Happy Eliza

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Eliza is starting to really laugh these days. She loves it when I say silly things and make silly faces as I pop out from hiding. She's also discovered her feet and that they are fun to put into her mouth. She is sleeping 11-12 hours at night now! Hurray! She is also taking really good naps. I moved her into her own room recently and it is great to have our room back to ourselves. I think she really likes her big crib too. She will often be on the other end and laying in the opposite direction that I laid her down in. As you can see in these pictures she is a very happy girl.

Coleman is loving using the potty these days. I am able to take him for a walk wearing his underwear and he will stay dry the whole time. Today we had to run home for him to use the potty. We got home just in time! Coleman is learning how to interact with Eliza in a gentler, more helpful way. He's starting to say things, and state observations that crack me up. For example, "Coleman will push his ear in and then Coleman will be a handsome boy", or "Coleman is a tough guy" as he pushes the stroller up a steep hill. In church nursery I'm told he is a great helper and pat-pats all the babies.

Jared and I have been busy painting our kitchen. We still have a long way to go, but it already looks so much better.

Playing is hard work

Coleman is still very excited about trains. We went to the Train Museum on Saturday with Jared's Dad and his girlfriend Cheryl. Coleman had so much fun! He was so overwhelmed with all the trains, and a train table to play with in the gift shop. Cheryl bought him a new train, Duck, from the Thomas series. That sent him over the moon with excitement. When he plays trains he narrates all that he is doing. He usually will give me a train to play with, and Daddy and baby. He's very generous with sharing. Coleman's potty training is going so well I think we may be saying good-bye to diapers soon.

Eliza is starting to 'talk' more in her own way. She is sleeping better at night now too. Hurray!

I'm busy painting our kitchen white. It looks so much better already than the salmon pink it was before. I can get a lot done in just 2 hours without the kids around!

July Update

Facebook has dominated most of my time lately, but I'm back on blogger!

We have officially lived in Birmingham over a year now. I love it here. The summers are not that hot after all. We've been having many days with weather in the high 80's, low 90's...in other words perfect for me. I'll start "teaching" three mornings a week in September at the Parents Day Out program at the Methodist Church near us. I'll have the 0-1 year old class with Eliza in it and Coleman's class is next door to my room.

I have decided to rediscover my pre-pregnancy figure with the help of Jillian Michaels from "The Biggest Loser". I work-out 20 minutes a day and she kicks my butt, but I feel great for the rest of the day. I have so much energy in fact that I often don't need a nap, and feel up to painting the kitchen at night. Thanks Jillian, ha, ha.

Coleman has been growing up over the last few months, and it has been painful at times. He is very jealous of Eliza and when Jared gets home he'll make it very clear that he doesn't want Daddy around: 'No Daddy, just Mama and Coleman'. He'll often say very loudly to Jared "NO, Mama do it!!" Jared often has to put him in time-out for being so rude. He's learning. He is learning how to be gentle with Eliza and loves to help with her bath, loves to give her kisses, and make her laugh. Sometimes he'll just start singing a song to her with his face inches from her face. It is so funny.

Tonight I was making dinner and cleaning up and Coleman entertained himself happily for an hour. He decided that he wanted to wash dishes, one of his favorite things to do. So he pushed the chair up to the sink as I was leaving the kitchen to take care of Eliza. I was with Eliza for about 5 minutes and I came out and found Coleman amidst a ton of bubbles. He loves to clean!



Lastly, our little Eliza bug is growing up! She is no longer content to just lay on a mat and look at a picture. She wants to be grabbing things and pulling them into her mouth. She is also interested in eating. One day I was eating a sandwich and saw her looking at my mouth so longingly as if she wanted to try eating too. So we've started giving her rice cereal and she loves it! She is starting to sleep better at night with 1 or 2 feedings on a good night. Hurray! She almost always wakes up happy and starts talking and cooing. When she sees me looking in at her she'll grin so happily. I love seeing her personality starting to come out now.



Oh yeah, for those of you (Elizabeth) interested in the update on Tikka, our cat, here it is: She is growing up too. She is now an outdoor cat and no longer sits on Jared's head at night. What a good girl. :P

Grandma and Grandpa Visit

Mom and Dad visited us last week. We had a great time at the pool, eating and relaxing. I got some good naps in, and even a bike-ride. One week goes by so quickly.

Coleman is already asking to call Grandma and Grandpa. I think he misses them already. Eliza just loves to be held and talked to, so she was a happy girl all week.

Summer Fun

Summer's here at last! We had a lot of fun outside today playing in the sandbox, in the pool, and in the swing. Coleman likes to order me around, especially when I am paying attention to Eliza. He's still very jealous of the attention I give her.