"Mendhi" paint

September was India month at Roses Prep! We read traditional Indian fables. We watched Riki Tiki Tavi by Rudyard Kipling. We watched the Disney classic Jungle Book and III read the classic Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling. He gave us a brief report on the differences between the two works. Shelby gave a book report on a classic fable, Nine Animals and the Well.

We tried to cook Indian food, but we couldn't find any recipes that didn't look disgusting to us. So, we spent some time in the library making fun of Indian food in the reference section. (I guess that counts as familiarizing them with it.)

We talked about the different religions in India and we discussed the cool Rangoli designs like the ones illustrated on the India poster in the background of the pictures. These designs are usually made with colored rice flour on the doorsteps of homes. Young women make them as a petition to the gods for good husbands. I considered letting the kids color some of the designs in our driveway with sidewalk chalk so that they could get a feel for Indian design. However, the Ten Commandments kept ringing in my ear. I didn't feel good about taking ANY chance on anyone seeing it and thinking we were petitioning gods. Nor did I want the kids to think it was okay to petition other gods. So, when in doubt, do without.

We talked about the Taj Mahal. Their dad and I checked out a cool video on the Taj Mahal and were planning on letting the kids watch it. Thankfully we previewed it for age appropriateness because after about 10 minutes on the Taj Mahal, the video segued to the other types of temples and alternative forms of ancient worship. This section including graphic images of statues and other images used to set the "worship" mood. I asked Hubby if they had taught him those techniques at the seminary he attended.

Our last Indian project was mendhi painting. This is usually done for Indian women for funerals or as part of a wedding party. It is usually done in henna and usually leaves residual color for about a month. We weren't that committed to authenticity in our study of India, so I bought Halloween make-up crayons at Wal-Mart and we "mendhi-ed" each other this afternoon.

BTW - the crayons were only $1 for a pack of 6. They only write when dipped in water. You don't have to press really hard for them to make good color, and the color really did wash off with just soap and water. We are going to go back to Wal-Mart and stock up on them. They would be great for Superhero make-up or alien make-up or wild animal make-up or anything else we might need to do. It's rare to find something so fun that is so inexpensive and really unlimited in its uses.

Baby Photos

About a week ago, my computer suddenly lost the ability to read the G:/ drive. Unfortunately, that's the drive that my camera card plugs in. I fussed at it impotently for several days, and then it dawned on me. Why not use the oldest computer trick in the book? Turn the computer off and on again. Alacazam! It worked. So, here's a week's worth of baby pics.


He finally found his toys. Ollie the Octopus is a favorite. He loves to snuggle Ollie and will cry for her.

The new high chair came and has ushered in a new era of eating. No more peaceful meals while the baby sleeps. He has to be at the table with us at every meal.

More toys. It's like he just figured out what all these things are for.

Both of the big kids have tried their hands at feeding him. III gave up after the first try. Rosy really seems to enjoy it.

Buffet Baby

Superman has developed his taste buds and found his empty stomach. We are thinking about changing his blog name to Hoss (like the redneck version of "horse") because he eats like a horse. Over the weekend last week, we convinced him to eat some of Aunt Cindy's mashed potatoes and some ice cream. When we came home, we sort of dropped the solid food concept for a day or two. Then, Wednesday night Hubby and I were eating and Superman was crying for my mashed potatoes. I ended up feeding him tons of them. Now he is eating baby food peaches, cheesy mashed potatoes, and ice cream with enthusiasm, and baby food chicken without enthusiasm. Of course, we have to give him a few tries with each food before he becomes a big fan of it. All of the books say to wait a while between each new food, so we are giving him a few days between introductions. He now screams when his little plate gets empty! Maybe all this good, docile behaviour we enjoyed up until now was just because he was weak and hungry. He has gotten very demanding since he started on solids.

We missed church this morning because I have severe allergies and my right eye is almost swollen shut. I rubbed it so much yesterday that I think I tore some of the skin right at the corner so it is very sensitive and painful.

We are going to Homecoming in St. Stephens this weekend. I will be taking Superman and Rosy. III and I don't travel well together so he is staying with Hubby. (It is hard to modestly breastfeed a four month old when you are sharing a room with a 10 year old boy! Also, III tends to lose his ability to focus and listen when we travel which unfortunately coincides with when I most need him to be able to focus and listen. All in all, without Hubby to supervise him, it is best for III to not travel with me.)

We had a busy week last week. Rosy had a doctor's appt. She visits her pediatric endocrinologist every 3 months. We got a great report. Her A1C (sort of a blood sugar average over the last few weeks) was pretty much right on target. It was a big improvement from her last visit when it was too high. We usually get a good report, but the last visit covered the three months right after the baby was born and Hubby and I weren't getting any sleep. It also partially covered the time when their mom was driving them back and forth to her new husband's home two hours away several times a week. Now that both of those situations are settled, we can monitor Rosy's blood sugars a little better.

Report cards went out at Roses Preparatory Academy last week! (FYI-That's what we named our Home School as a joke when we thought that Rosy would only be homeschooled for K4 and maybe K5. Now we're sort of stuck with it because she really likes it. III pretty much hates it! Even their little brother on their Bio Mom's side attends Roses Prep.) Rosy made all As in her academic subjects and an Average in her penmanship. Penmanship is graded as Excellent, Average, and Below Average. III made a collection of As and Bs with one C. We are really trying to walk him through a process this year of determining when he needs to study and how much study time he needs. Kate Gosslin (John and Kate Plus 8) pointed out that boys and girls are different. She said that she never had to show any of her 5 girls how to put on their pants, but that with all three of the boys, she had to teach them how to put on pants. I believe it. Things that seem to be just part of functioning to me and to Rosy are real challenges to Hubby and to III. Rosy and I are trying to figure out how to train Superman so that he can be a manly man one day who is capable of thinking like a woman. Of course, this brings up the concept that God specifically designed men and women differently to suit the purposes for which he created them. It's a hard call, but I don't see any reason not to try a little training on the little one! Maybe he will at least be able to find things in the fridge and pantry without hollaring for his wife one day!

Ice Cream with Gram Sam

Thursday night, we finally found a food that Superman would eat...ice cream. Our pediatrician says that we need to be teaching him to get rid of his "tongue thrust" instinct. Apparently, babies automatically push everything non-liquid out of their mouths until they learn differently. Gram Sam fed Superman his ice cream Friday night. Aunt Cindy has a great camera and got some really good shots.

Superman is learning about high chairs. Gram Sam got him a Winnie the Pooh one that matches his Pack n Play at her house. We ordered his big wooden one for our house and it should be delivered today or tomorrow. He loves the one at Gram Sam's. I hope he will like the one we got him.

Baby Dedication

Superman's Dedication service was really nice yesterday. We had written a simple service and it only lasted about 10 minutes. Hubby welcomed everyone and explained the concept of Baby Dedication. Then Hubby's Uncle Joe and Uncle Terrel and my Uncle Edward (all of our Dads' brothers) said prayers and did readings. We closed out with Hubby dedicating the baby to God and asking a final blessing. Then, we adjourned to a small reception in the fellowship hall. It was not a fancy, formal occasion, but it suited us perfectly. We had all of our living aunts and uncles except one of my mom's sisters and her brother. We are very blessed.

Pachyderms for Palin

I spent time Saturday afternoon surfing the web looking for onesie ideas. I saw several great ideas and will probably be making Superman a whole collection of Palinwear. But, as I surfed, I saw one that had a baby elephant and said, "Pachyderms for Palin". It hit me then that it was the perfect slogan for Big Al and Sarah Palin. So, here's Superman in his new outfit. The back says, "Roll Tide Republican".

Hubby wants me to send the pics to Sean Hannity. I'm pretty sure that I won't do that since I'm not licensed to use either the Republican Party's elephant or Big Al.

Oh, What a Night!

This picture looks innocent enough, but it is a bad scene when you look closely. Somehow we messed up Superman's schedule last night. We bathed him right on time (10PM), but he wasn't the least bit sleepy afterward. We gave him his nighttime bottle anyway and Hubby tried to get him to sleep. Nothing worked, so around 11PM we gave up and put him in his Jumperoo.

During this whole ordeal, I was frantically sewing as I tried to finish his Dedication gown. Because we now live in a smaller house and I have to sew in the living room, I try to do my sewing when III and Rosy aren't home. My goal was to finish the gown other than hemming on Friday night and then I would have time Saturday afternoon to hem it up.

At about 11:15, Hubby points to the Jumperoo and we realize that we have a sleeping baby in a place where he can not be left for the night. OH-NO! We tried UNSUCCESSFULLY to move him to his Pack and Play. He woke up enough that he couldn't go back to sleep. We ended up having to bring him back into the living room and put him in his bouncy seat. Now, it's closing on midnight and I'm sitting on the couch feeding him another bottle that we hope is going to be the clincher. NOPE! We try the swing, breatfeeding, rocking, and every other trick under the moon. Nothing worked. At 1:15 AM, I took him to our room and laid down in bed to feed him. He fell asleep finally, but he woke up when Hubby tried to move him to his Pack and Play. He started fretting, but it was 2AM and I had had enough. So I used a stern voice and told him "NO" and he quieted down after about 5 minutes.

Needless to say, I managed to get 40 minutes of sewing done in 5 hours last night. So, I had to get up early this morning and tackle the Dedication gown. It's actually coming along really well. All I have left is the tucks at the bottom and hemming. This picture shows it with the outfit under that he will wear with it. I'm pretty pleased with the way it is going so far.

Palin Onesie

Since I obviously don't have enough to do, I've now come up with a passion for Superman to have a Sarah Palin onesie. I have the iron-on paper that I can print on and put a design on a onesie, but I don't know what I want to put on there. My best idea right now is to take the Republican elephant with McCain / Palin written on it and put it on the front of the onesie and to put something like "Trigg's mommy rocks!" on the back. Of course, I am considering something along the lines of , "If she can handle 5 kids and look that good, 50 states is going to be a breeze!"

I am welcoming any suggestions. Bonus points if you manage to tie the U of A mascot Big Al and the Republican elephant into the same design idea.

First Cereal!

I've always wondered why people show pictures of their children eating things and spitting them back out. I still don't know why the other people do it. My baby is really cute doing it, so I'm posting the video for you guys. It's actually not too gross since we were just trying rice cereal with apples. We later tried peaches which got pretty much the same results but with more of an orange tint.

For several weeks now (since Sun. August 31st), Superman has been having and loving rice cereal in his bottle. Our pediatrician suggested that he might be ready to try eating spoonfuls of cereal. He was not. We'll try again in a week or two.

Martha Stewart Live!

It's baby arts and crafts week at our house. Superman's baby Dedication service is Sunday, September 21st at our home church, and I am scrambling to get everything ready. Any of you who know me well already know that I can't be normal about anything. Everything has to be a complex production. Well, trust me that his Dedication is no different! Hubby has really helped me realize over the last few years that the rest of the world doesn't expect me to be a modern marvel Martha Stewart , but that I create those expectations for myself. I have worked hard to pare down this production, but certain things had to be done.

LOCATION - The first question was "Where to have the Dedication?" If we have it at our church (where Hubby pastors), we can pretty much rule out most of our family attending. That would include my dad since traveling is fairly difficult for him. We might have Hubby's 2 aunts and uncles, but I'm pretty certain that most of my extended family wouldn't be able to make the trip. If we have it at our home church where family can attend, then none of our church family can attend and we impose ourselves on a congregation that we haven't been an active part of for over a decade. We debated this for months and finally came to what we believe is the right choice for our family. We are going to have a private Dedication performed by Hubby and 3 of our uncles on a Sunday afternoon at our home church in our home town. We didn't want to leave our current church family out, but when we had to decide whether or not to have the event so that my dad could see his first infant grandchild dedicated, the choice was clear. (I noted that this is the first infant grandchild because my parents have 4 other grandchildren, but we missed the infant phase with them.)

WHEN - We decided on September 21st because it is my Mother's birthday. Last year, on her birthday we surprised her with a visit and gave her a poem telling her that we were pregnant. It seems fitting that one year later we would return to the same place to dedicate that child to the Lord.

CLOTHING - I'll bet that no one is surprised that Hubby and I disagree on what a BOY baby should wear for a Dedication service. Hubby was apparently picturing a nice pastel blue Jon-Jon sort of outfit. Well, I've been dreaming of cathedral length christening gowns ever since Hubby proposed to me. So, we compromised. Superman has a new white bubble outfit trimmed in soft baby blue. AND, over that he is going to wear a sleeveless, scoop neck cathedral length christening gown. Once the actual service is over, he can take off the gown and just have his bubble. This style was in the Strasbug catalog a few years ago. They don't make it anymore, so I searched online and can't find a pattern for it anywhere.

This is where arts and crafts week comes into play. I picked a pattern that had a regular long gown with flat pleats adorning the bottom. The same pattern had a sleeveless slip with it. So, I combined the bodice of the slip with the skirt of the gown. BUT, I wanted embroidery on the bodice. Of course, I couldn't find an embroidery pattern that I liked so I searched for clip art. I found what I liked and copied it onto the fabric. I spent most of yesterday morning embroidering and cutting out pattern pieces. The pattern is still under construction because I wanted to sew this gown like an heirloom sewing piece with all the seams hidden. I assumed that since this was a christening gown pattern that it would be that way, but I was wrong. I think I've worked out how to sew the bodice and how to line it so that the back of the embroidery won't be visible. Wish me luck on this one!

INVITATIONS - Even though either me or my mom has pretty much talked to everyone, I wanted to send invitations. While babysitting Superman, it took almost a whole day to print and assemble the invitaions. I finished them around 10:30 last night and they will go in the mail today.

It's all crazy, but it makes me happy. I'll post pics of the gown when it is done!

Happy Grandparents Day

We were late with our Grandparents' Day card, so we videotaped it. This is the Grandparents' Day Limerick. We are studing limericks in poetry right now, so we chose this form. Don't you wonder what an onomatopoeia poem about Grandfathers would sound like?!?!?!



Grandparents' Day came and went
With no card from us being sent
So if you don't mind
We'd like to rewind
And do it again like we meant

Dearest Gram Sam and Papa Deet
You're cool, you're fun, you're sweet
(Can you tell we're studying limericks?
It's one of Mommy's home school gimmicks.)
No matter what, you guys are a treat.

Happy, Happy Grandparents' Day!
It's all we needed to say.
This greeting had to be filmed
The baby can't talk so at least you can see him.
But as you can hear - it's really from Shelby and Trey!

Bear Feet

Superman had problems with his footy pajamas last night. He spend 20 or 30 minutes trying to find his feet.

This video may only be cute to his parents. I'm so into him that it is hard for me to have perspective on what the rest of you will think is entertaining.

One Giant Step for Mommy-kind

It was hard, but I did it...I left Superman in our church nursery tonight. This was his first adventure into a multiple child setting. Let's be honest...this was his first adventure into non-family child care. Up until this point, I have only left him once or twice with Hubby and once with my mom.

We visited the nursery week before last and decided that Sunday nights were the perfect time for us to adjust to being in the nursery. We usually have 3 ladies in the nursery - Mrs. Renee, Mrs. Linda, and Miss Kayla, and we usually only have 2 other kids. I thought that the one-to-one ratio would really soothe my nerves. I talked to Mrs. Renee this morning and she told me that Mrs. Linda and Miss Kayla were out of town, but she had lined up Mrs. Annette and Miss Katelyn to help her this week. Mrs. Annette and Miss Katelyn are wonderful ladies, so that was fine with me.

Imagine my panic when I arrived at church tonight and there were 2 other kids in the room! Now, don't get me wrong, I'm excited that families were there. It just surpried me and made me cautious. How would 3 ladies hold 5 kids? Then they pointed out to me that 2 of the kids were big kids and wouldn't want to be held. So, I left little Superman. He had a great time and they said he was very cheerful and happy. He made a stinky diaper, but he didn't do that until the end. I got there in time to change him. So, thanks to Mrs. Renee, Mrs. Annette, and Miss Katelyn. What a big adventure!

And, even though he is in the car seat in the pics, they did free him. Miss Katelyn was holding him and walking him around the room when I got there.

Crimson Tide! and the Storm Rolls In

Superman was very excited about his first Alabama game. We went to my parents' house to see the game. He was so hyped about it that he fell asleep about 2 minutes before kick-off. He was sitting with Uncle Joey for the first part of the game. He has three Alabama outfits, and we worked really hard all day not to mess up the one he was wearing in case it was the one that would help the team win. I explained how "lucky" outfits work. I hedged my bets and told him that if the team loses it may because he had on the wrong outfit. I explained that we can only lose 2 times during the year or he will be out of "lucky" outfits. Right now, we are wearing the others during the week and saving the one outfit for game day. So, don't blame us if Alabama loses. We are doing our part.

We went to my parents' house Saturday to spend a long weekend. Things were going very well until Alabama's governor started talking about reversing the flow on traffic on I-65 and making it northbound in all lanes. That indicated to me that I had better hurry up and get back to Florida before they closed all my roads. I didn't want to be breaking through some police barricade at the state line with Superman in a stroller and Rosy's insulin in my breastmilk insulated bag waiting on Hubby to pick me up on the other side. I remember stories of people not being allowed back into New Orleans right before Ivan and I was not going to be caught on the wrong side of the state line if they closed the roads and borders. So, I loaded the kids up Sunday morning and headed home.

Thankfully the weather was fairly mild and we didn't see a lot of hurricane activity. Hubby and I woke up a few times during the night to check the weather reports, but it really wasn't as bad as most thunder storms.

Since we couldn't do anything else anyway, we went ahead and had school today. We are planning to take 2 or 3 days off later this month when we go to St. Stephens to dedicate Superman. I took Rosy and Superman outside this morning while the wind was still blowing. It made his hair stand up like a little mohawk! When we came back in, I tried to put him in his Jumperoo so that Rosy and I could have school. He refused to be put down and so I had to prop him up in his Boppy pillows and let him attend Phonics class. It was really cute because I was teaching with Rosy in front of me and Superman to the right of me on his pillows. Twinkle is not in the picture, but she was sitting right to the left of me. We actually had 3 students in Phonics class today! But, that's not unusual for us.

Chinatown

Our first month of home school is almost over. III and Rosy have just ended their 3rd week with me. Of course, they still have to finish the second part of the week with their Bio Mom, but, for me, this first month is over. As you may have noticed by now, we are trying to interject some more interesting extras into our school year. Last year was a no-frills year because I was on bedrest or reduced activity for most of it. This year we are hoping to enjoy our learning a little more.

Here are some pics of the kids working on their mini-Chinese Dragons. Note that Twinkle can not stand to be left out of anything and has to have her own chair for art time. She attends every day of Shelby's class.

The Actors Studio!

As part of our home school curriculum, III and Rosy learn a poem each month. This month we are working on a poem called "I Call First" that shows why you may not want to be first at everything. The poems that we usually learn are very boring, so we are spicing it up a little this year. Their Bio Mom and I have decided that we don't have to be bound to the strict curriculum. We think it's more important that the kids learn to enjoy learning. We will always make sure that we cover the fundamentals of what they need to know for each grade, but we want to encourage them through our extra projects.

School has been a lot more fun this year. In addition to our regular classes, we are also studying a country each month. In August, our focus was China. We learned how to say, "hello" and "thank-you" in Mandarin. We cooked two different Chinese meals and one Chinese dessert. We looked at pictures taken from space of the Great Wall of China. Of course, we watched the Olympics. We watched Mulan, and compared the Disney Mulan to the original Mulan from the Chinese fable. We used a website to determine what our Chinese names would be. We figured out our Chinese birth year and we made Chinese New Year dragons. This is what I always thought home school would be like!

Lights, Camera, Action

I'm better than The Farmer's Almanac! If you want to know when it will rain in the Pensacola area, you just check to see when my portraits are ready to be picked up. The last 4 sets of portraits that I have had made have all arrived back at the studio on a day that it was raining. Even though TS Fay is headed our way, it only sprinkled for about 6 minutes today - the 6 minutes that I was leaving the portrait studio and headed to my Jeep. I managed to keep the pics dry though.

I was scheduled to go to St. Stephens tomorrow, but I really don't want to be out and about during the rain and wind. I feel bad that my family won't get to see the pictures, so I scanned some of them.

Maybe I'm biased, but I think these are really good looking portraits. I had them done at our local Wal-mart. I never thought I would have my kids portraits done at Wal-mart, but then I priced the "real" photographers. Whoa! You can make a car payment for less than a sitting with one of them. So, I've hunted around and found a lady that I really like. Our kids respond really well to her and she usually gets the shot on the first try. The color values on these pictures look better in person; the images here have been run through my scanner. These are Superman's 3 month pics and were taken on mine and Hubby's 4th anniversary. We can compare how much III and Rosy have grown since 2004.

Froggy Boy

I think that Superman is really at his cutest right after his bath, so you guys get lots of bath photos. We are really blessed that he has two cool bathrobes and several hooded towels. He doesn't really enjoy the evening post-bath fashion show, but Hubby tells him it is the price he pays for having a prissy mommy. Family portraits, Easter ensembles, and theme dinners are other things that the men in our family think are nuts but we persist in doing anyway.

The baby's congestion is improving, but we have a new problem now. His sinus drainage is creating some intestinal discomfort (gas). Monday was terrible because I didn't know what the problem was. He only took 3 little 15 minute naps ALL DAY! Tuesday was much better. He is somewhat back on a regular schedule. Sleep - Breast Feed - Diaper Change - Bottle - Poop - Mylecon - Diaper Change - Play - Nose Spray - Bottle - Diaper Change - Mylecon - Nose Spray - Breast Feed This goes on non-stop. And, I guess it will for another year or two.

This video is cool to me because he actually appears to obey when I tell him to blow a kiss to Gram Sam. I have started recording little snippets for my mom every day so that she can see him growing. I also want him to hear her name and know that we are excited about her. I think he will respond with extra enthusiasm if he knows that we all say her name with excitement. (Sometimes I worry that maybe I do too many little "educational" experiments on him. Am I going to have to have another kid that I don't do any of these things with to use as a control?) Anyway, if he is blowing a kiss, it's the first time he has done it.

Lions, Tigers, and Bears

Every night after we bathe Superman, we wrap him in a hooded towel. The other night we used the one the transforms him into a lion. While Hubby was drying off the baby, he was growling at him and teaching him to growl back. I was startled that Superman could do it, but it was really cute to see him in his little fluffy towel growling back at Daddy.

This morning I decided to get in on the act. (We are still at home because of his congestion or we would be at church by now.) After his morning bottle, I was trying to see if I could get him to growl with me. Well, I'm not a good growler. Maybe it's my sinus congestion or maybe it's just a noise I can't make. Kind of like how I honestly can't do that nasty throat clearing thing and how some people (including me) have to say "wa-pow" because we can't make a whip noise. (Chandler understands me on this one.) BUT, I can trill "r"s. At first Superman thought this was great and he was mimicing me. I figured that if Daddy could teach him to be a lion, I could teach him to be a tiger. Then, I made the mistake of running to get the camera. As usual, once that little red "Record" light came on, he lost interest in what we had been doing. He did, however, think that Mommy was very funny.

Even though he's not growling like a lion or a tiger on this video, I thought those big smiles were cute enough to post.

It's a Bird, It's a Plane, No, It's a Hand!

Superman found his hand last night. We were preparing him for his bath when Hubby noticed that Superman had found his hand. I disturbed his concentration a little by running for the camera and talking to him, but he was clearly fascinated by what he saw. By the time I got the camera there he had lost a little bit of his interest, but he was really checking it out a minute before.

He didn't go to bed until 2 AM this morning because of all the sniffling and snuffling, so we are all worn out. Maybe he will be back on schedule before Monday when school resumes.

Sick Baby

Superman has the crud! I woke up stuffy and sneezy Wed. morning. By Wed. evening, Superman was starting to sniffle. Now, he has the full blown crud! We took him to the doctor this morning, and she has ordered him to be homebound for the rest of the weekend.

Happy Birthday to Julia

Happy Birthday, Julia!

Note that Superman is wearing his "birthday suit"!!!

Jumperoo for Joy!

We finally got Superman's Jumperoo. This video was taken within the first minute that he was in it. He really enjoyed himself and his play got more and more rambunctous as he became more accustomed to it. He thinks it is very cool. He sometimes just sits and grins and then he will bounce madly for a minute or two. I think it is going to be well worth the money spent and the aggravation incurred to get it here.

Not that you can see his outfit in this video, but it is a cute little romper (One-piece? I don't know the correct term.) that has tug boats and says, "Tugging at Mommy's Heart". My mom got it for us. My dad worked on a tug boat for most of my childhood. Very cute!

We've noticed that he strongly favors his left leg. It is always kicking and pushing. I'm, of course, convinced that it means he will be a kicker for UA eventually.

I'm posting his bath photos to show how long he has gotten. The first time I put him in that tub, I was sure that we were going to break him. Hubby, Gram Sam, and I were all so nervous. Now, my little piglet fills up his tub and uses the end of it to push against. We've started putting less water in it because he delights in splashing me during his bath. After watching the Olympics this week, Hubby has hinted that maybe Superman will grow up to be another Michael Phelps. I hated to point out to him that most of the people in both of our families are not very aerodynamic. It's a hoot to bathe him now! He really seems to enjoy it - as long as I keep that warm washcloth over all the parts that are sensitive to the cold.

Open House at Roses Preparatory Academy

Rosy's Work Station
III's Work Station
"Around the World" Station - China
Healthy Habits Bulletin Board in the Restroom
Nutrition Bulletin Board in the Cafeteria

Saturday was Open House at Roses Prep!

The kids got to see their new work stations and new bulletin boards. Hubby and I decided that since we don't live in the big fancy house anymore, we can put bulletin boards up in places where the children would normally see them at school. So, there is one in the cafeteria, the bathroom, and the hallway. I remember as a child that I was always interested in seeing what was on the bulletin boards around the school. It's an experience that I didn't want them to miss.

School starts on Monday, so pray for us.

Superman says "Hello"

I know he's not really saying, "Hello", but it kind of sounds like it around the 10 second mark. And, I'm just enjoying being able to film him and post it. So, this is Superman chilling in his crib propped up on his Boppy. I realized right after I filmed this that he was starving.

School starts Monday, so the rest of this weekend will be a flurry of preparations. There are bulletin boards to prepare, desks to set up, and reports to prepare. Wish us luck!

Hi to GramSam

I know the video is sideways, but I couldn't figure out how to turn it over. It was just too cute not to post. Next time, I'll pay more attention to how I hold the camera.

Superman has found his arms. He can't completely control them yet, but he is almost there. When he is in his swing, I dance for him and he will mimic what I do. Unfortunately this is not going to teach him rhythm, but maybe he can just learn basic movement. He will "wave" if I wave at him.

And, yes, I know that baby talk sounds silly. But, my baby likes it!

Couch Potato

Superman is forbidden to watch ANY television. Everything that I've read about infant exposure to television says that he shouldn't see any TV until he is at least two years old. However, we've already noticed that he loves TV. We have to be really careful when we are feeding him and when we lay him down in his swing or bouncer. If we don't keep an eye on him, he will turn his little neck and stare like a zombie at the TV. This is particularly distressing because I HATE it when someone zones out in front of the TV and ignores everyone in the room and can't hold a conversation because their head is "stuck in the TV". Hubby, III, and Rosy all get fussed at because of their TV addictions.

The pictures on today's post were taken last night. Before we went to Prayer Meeting, I was feeding Superman while I watched an episode of Scrubs . I had to sit him down for a second and run to the kitchen. (By the way, I can see the couch from the kitchen, so I had my eye on him.) I didn't realize that I had propped him facing the TV until Hubby came into the living room and asked Superman if he was enjoying Scrubs. Hubby couldn't see me and I guess it looked to him like Superman was just kicked back enjoying his show. I took the pics because with his little short t-shirt, bloated milk belly, wet diaper, and glazed over eyes he reminds me of a beer-bellied redneck kicked back on the couch staring at the TV. These are not flattering pics but maybe I can use them later to show him what he doesn't want to grow up to be.

Yesterday was our 4 year wedding anniversary, and it was probably one of my favorite days of our marriage. Things were so relaxed. Because it was Wednesday and Hubby is a pastor, he sort of has to work unless we are going to be out of town. He and I stayed up the night before until midnight so that we could have the first minutes of our anniversary. Superman let me sleep until 8AM. Then, it was time to get rolling because we had a portrait appt. We got some great shots of all three of the kids. Hubby came home and we all had lunch together. I got to take a short nap after lunch. Then, III and Rosy went to the their mom's house for her visitation. I came back and worked on prepping for school and cooking for our Family Dinner at church. Hubby came home a few minutes early from work so that we could be together at 4PM which was the time of our wedding. We went to church and then came home and played with the baby. We had intended to watch a movie, but Superman was more fun! We ended the evening having giant bowls of ice cream! It was all so simple, but it fit us perfectly!

Relax!

Sunday was a great day for our family! Uncle Joe and Aunt Darlene showed up for the 11AM church service and spent the afternoon with us. Aunt Darlene made Superman a cute Peter Rabbit quilt with his name embroidered on it. It's the kind of thing that he will have forever. Everybody needs an aunt or grandma who will make them their own "blankie".

I also had a second great treat. Mrs. Alma called me and I got to share baby stories with her and catch up on how everybody is doing. She gave me some wisdom on how to get a baby to sleep, so we're trying a little rearranging to our schedule tonight. Superman got his bath at 9:30, his bottle at 9:50, and was laid down at 10:00. Wish us luck!

Stupid Is As Stupid Does

Last night after church, Hubby and I loaded up Superman and we headed to the Wal-Mart across town. We have decided that Superman is ready for an ExerSaucer / Jumperoo and I had shopped around and decided on the Fisher Price Rainforest Jumperoo. He has the Rainforest Swing and the Rainforest Mobile and he is very attached to the characters that are repeated on each item. When we were in the store Tuesday looking at the jumpers, he got very excited when he saw the little toad and toucan on the Rainforest Jumperoo.

After we came home, I did a price comparison online, and found out that Wal-Mart sells it for $70 and Target sells it for $76. I then used Walmart.com to see which Wal-Mart store had it in stock. Thus, we head across town last night to get our Jumperoo. When we get there, the price is $87! We use Hubby's phone which has internet access to confirm the online price and to confirm that we can get free shipping to the store of our choice. Then we approach the Customer Service Manager to see if they can match their price in the store to the online with free shipping price. They can't! I ask him if he understands that it is going to cost Wal-Mart a lot more to ship one of these across the country to me for free rather than to just let me pick one up off the shelves. He says that he understands it clearly and wishes that someone who makes those policies understood it. We then call Target and their in-store price is $89. So, even though I wish I was strong enough to boycott Wal-Mart, I came home and immediately ordered a Jumperoo online.