Beanie Babies

See a resemblance here?

Tessa at 15 months chowing on some black beans


Charley at 14 months chowing on some black beans

Both of my kids love beans in any form....chili, black, refried, in a taco, in a soup, baked, sauteed, steamed. Beans beans are the magical fruit of my household.

Welcome Aviana

Don't you just love those days that turn out differently than you expected? Our plan today was for church and some random housework like vacuuming and laundry, and some exercise on the treadmill. Oh and pouring down rain all day, not too exciting.

Just as we pulled in from church we got a call from Rafe that this had happened...
Welcome Aviana Loren (that part's after me! Pronounced like Sophia Loren) 7lb, 10 oz. Erin had what sounded like an uneventful labor of about 16 hours. Aviana has a crapload of dark brown hair and is doing very well.

After nap time we went up to visit. Tessa talked about it all the way there and back but was super shy in the room. I think because I had told her she needed to be quiet and obey while in the hospital, and she did! She liked touching her hair and tiny fingers.

Charley was mostly oblivious and more interested in Erin's graham crackers.



They went to a hospital on the north side of Indy which is sort of the more 'swanky' part of town. So after we left, why not celebrate with a nice dinner at PF Changs? (sorry no pics of that but Charley had a rice explosion that required a huge tip for the waiter)

Then we dropped by Trader Joe's for a quick shopping trip, since there's not one anywhere near us. Oh how we love TJ's...both their food and tiny kid size grocery carts. If only they would build one on the south side.

What a wonderful and exciting day it turned out to be. Happy Palm Sunday!

Weaning Woes

We're several weeks into the weaning process and are just down to nursing at bedtime only. Today was the first day we went a full 24 hours before nursing again and Charley and I were both miserable. I'm in pain and he's cranky despite my offers of food and sippy cups.

Ugh, we'll get through eventually!

Where Are the Dinosaurs?

Mom and Becky are on spring break this week so we took our five kids to the zoo yesterday. Tessa was very excited beforehand and when I asked her what animals she wanted to see she kept saying 'dinosaurs'. I tried to convince her that one of the lizards in the dessert area was a dino but she simply said "no it's not".

There were lots of things to see though. Going in the early spring is great because of the mild weather and small crowds. We had a great time and so did the kids. Tessa buddied up with Mark and eventually wore him out. Charley and David napped in our double stroller while the other kids took turns riding in the zoo's rented cart.

As always, Mom was the family photographer but there seems to be something wrong with her computer and the ability to email me the pics. So I'll direct you to her shutterfly....click on the album labeled Zoo March 2010

I love in every picture is either the back of someone's head or someone eating: http://sargent42.shutterfly.com/

And a special thank you to Grammie and Grampie for the zoo pass!

Tessa Recaps the Easter Story

"Jesus was der but he's all gwown up, not a baby. He's a Daddy now! He was on de cwoss. He had fingernails in his hands and feets (yes fingernails, not nails, she insists). He was stuck der. His fwiends were sad, they cwy. But he all better! He came BACK!"

More Firsts

Why do major events seem to come in waves around here? Charley took his first steps this week and we're well into the weaning process with only 2 feeding a day left. And today he got his first haircut. The rest of the fam was headed to Great Clips for trims so I figured, why not?

I was surprised when the barber whipped out the clippers but he did a GREAT job. You could tell this guy had worked with many little boys in the past. He was quick and efficient and very sweet to Charley.

And he looks great! I can't get used to it yet...where's my baby? And the fine folks at Great Clips even caught a swatch of that baby fine blond to put in a special card for us.

My favorite thing about Great Clips?...4 haircuts for $46, and everyone looks fabulous.

Before


During


And after, enjoying his first sucker!

Safety Talk with Tessa

I'm starting to think I need to keep a notebook in the kitchen and write down Tessa-isms and then just do a weekly post. She cracks us up daily without even trying. What a funny kid.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to write down isms from the whole family, since we're a bunch of nuts. One I remember from Jeremy recently....'if I'd have known we were going to skip church I would have made more bacon'

Anyway, we took a nice long walk (outside!) today and as always I let Tessa out of the stroller once we got back around to our street. She likes to run down the sidewalk, which is fine as long as she stays close. Today, I practiced some driveway safety with her. We stopped at every driveway and looked for cars before crossing it. She got the hang after a couple.

So this is our recap conversation at dinner:
--did you have fun walking?
--yup
--and what do we do when we come to a road or driveway
--look for car
--yes, STOP and look for cars (we practice looking side to side)..and if we see no cars?
--RUN!!
--well yeah, run or walk only if there's no cars, and if we see cars?
--uhh.......
--if we see cars moving we stop and wait
--and we get in my car??
--uh, no we were walking
--Tessa's in her car?
--oh, if someone were walking behind US and saw our car, what would they do?
--get inside, we're going to school!!
--no
--to see MISS CINDY!

Every conversation comes back to Miss Cindy, Tessa's preschool teacher. I swear she's obsessed.

Hi Daddy!

Tessa really understands when Jer is travelling nowadays. I tell her that he left on the big plane is gone to work. She's used to it and just awaits his triumphant return.

She's started doing the cutest thing though, all on her own. She'll see planes flying in the sky and point up and say "there he is, HI DADDY!!!!" and wave.

We went on an hour long walk today and she saw Daddy three times.

Shamrocks

Look at this! Charley doing his first art project. Of course he ate a little paint but he also really liked it. Tessa used real paint and he got watercolors (much less messy). Tessa could say they were shamrocks but still couldn't quite spit out "St. Patrick's Day".


My goal was to make them all into necklaces for us to wear but we only had enough green ribbon for one. Oh well. She's very excited about wearing it to MOPs tomorrow.


Look at this too. Outside with no jacket on! As the consummate sherpa of the family belongings, I can't wait until the official end of coat season. We're not quite there, but getting close!

In other news Charley is starting to take 3-4 steps at a time and going further every day. I'm sure we'll get a video soon! I predict in a week he will be walking for real.

A Lovely Weekend

The kids were happy this past week because I got a Scentsy, which is a very cool flameless candle type thing that I can forsee becoming addicting. It's a consultant business so who knows, maybe I'll even sell them someday.

Back to the box....the kids have been playing with it for about 5 days now and still aren't tired of it. Tessa will get all the way in and close it up, and if you act like you are going to throw the box away she'll pop out and say "I'm not trash, I'm Tessa!"

Friday night we went to our church talent show and I gussied up Tessa's hair. I was able to get a perfect bonafied Peggy Olson ponytail in the back but I think the front looked a bit like a hasidic Jew. Luckily the curls loosened and it was super cute.

At the talent show I sang a song called "Easy Silence" along with a very talented young guitar player. It was fun and so good to be behind the mic. It's been a year or two. Jer says I looked a little nervous, guess the PMO days are long behind me.


If you read Jeremy's post from Saturday, he referenced that Mom and I were off doing 'girlie things'....no we weren't getting mammograms or anything. We hit power hours at Kohl's, got pedicures at the mall and had lunch.

Now my feet are all ready for sandals, and the temperatures dropped again. Argh!

I've been putting these feetsies to work. We have two months until we are walking 13 miles in the Indy 500 Mini Marathon. I hear the thump thump of Jeremy on the treadmill right now, as we've been taking turns walking for an hour or so in the evenings. Yesterday I made it through the whole movie "Precious"...4 miles. Today, my hips are killing me. Ugh, will I ever make 13 miles?

Oh and of course, Happy 7th Anniversary to my hubs! Saturday night we went out for a delicious sushi dinner and NO kids. 7 years well spent!

Daddy's Day Out

Jeremy here: I can't believe that 7 years have gone by so fast, Laura and I are celebrating our 7th anniversary this weekend. We've had our challenges and triumphs like everyone, but I can honestly say I am truly blessed by my wife.

Tonight we'll be celebrating by having a night out alone while Mamaw watches the kids, however, during the day I took the kids while Laura and her Mom went out to do girlie things.

So, what would any red blooded American Dad do? Take his kids to the hardware store of course! We got to see all the cool tools, lawn stuff, new spring flowers, we ran into friends and best of all this morning they had a toddler project class. While Charley played in the cart, Tessa and I built a miniature basketball hoop. Who knew Lowes had this class every Saturday? And, a free addition to the dollhouse!

After Lowes we again did what any father would do....went got Taco Bell for lunch and brought it home.

Note to self: next time take Charley's white shirt off before giving him a taco. Shh don't tell Laura.




Of course a bath followed Taco Bell and then off to snoozers! What a great day alone with the kids!

Tell Me That Someday it Will Pay Off

I'm working very hard to teach Tessa manners on a two year old scale. So hard that it's bound to be the thing that drives me into the looney bin. I wholeheartedly disagree with the idea that toddlers can get what they want by screaming, and that parents should fall prey to it.

I try to stand like a fortress....'you may NOT speak to me that way'. Remembering that ultimately I am bigger than the child and could take her in a fight and emotionally I am called to be her guidance. That's not to say I haven't blurted out "STOP YELLING AT ME!". By the way, not really effective.

I am trying to master the Clare Huxtable "look"...you know where you can cut a facial expression so cold and terrifying that they snap back in line, no words required. I know this will take practice but I've been working on it.
Yesterday while shopping with Erin I let Tessa out of the stroller as long as she stayed near us. While I was shopping at Lane Bryant (and Erin at the store next door because even at 9 months pregnant she's too skinny for Lane Bryant), Tessa wondered a little too far and I reminded her to stay close. She said "no" and I gave her the Huxtable look. Her head dipped a bit and she sauntered back to the stroller while I gave myself an internal high five.

Back to the subject of manners, I've been drilling it and drilling it enough to tire myself and want to give up. But I need to stay strong. This would be an example of a conversation Tessa and I would have about 74 times a day.

--MOM, I need some juuuuuiiiiccce
--Okay, hold on I'm changing Charley's diaper
--But I need it, I NEED it
--Please wait your turn
--I'M FIRSTY!!
--Please wait your turn, I'm changing Charley
--Get it, get it!!!
--Tessa you need to stop yelling or you're going straight time out
--I stop yelling now
--Now, how would you ask nicely for a drink?
--PWEEEEEEEASE!
--Please what?
--Please I like to have a dwink, Mommy
--Gladly!

Let Them Eat Cheese....?

Looks kinda yummy right? Like something from a fancy restaurant, fresh cheese with pistachio and what appears to be a beet underneath. I'd try it, I might even like it (knowing my personal affection for cheese, I'm sure I would). But what if I told you this delicious dish was made from human breast milk?

Yup, you read that right. NYC chef David Angerer had a surplus of his wife's frozen breastmilk and decided to try some recipes. Now to be clear, by law he cannot serve this in a restaurant, but he has been sharing with friends and family and on his food blog.

It must have made the headlines because my radio show was talking about it this morning with ample amounts of disgust. I'm not quite sure where I fall on this issue.

Given that I have never had the kahunas to drink my own breastmilk, I guess I would fall more toward the 'yuck' reaction. BUT, I'm also a supporter of the idea that there is nothing in the world more natural than breastfeeding and breastmilk. And let us not forget that human adults are not designed to digest milk, but we guzzle cow's milk by the gallon, so wouldn't guzzling human milk be even MORE natural?

I say it's their milk, let them go for it. Just don't go serving it to me at a dinner party before I'm well aware what it is.

Avo Sandwiches

If you need a quick kid meal and are tired of grilled cheese, here's an original for you. Both my kids love avocados. It was the first food for both of them, and to this day Tessa will polish one off with a spoon, straight out of the skin.

The great thing about avocados is that they are super nutritious. I once heard that if you were stranded somewhere and could only choose three foods to live on, you should choose lentils, spinach and avocados (sounds like a strange place to be stranded right?...can I have some ice cream too?)

I've been making grilled avocado sandwiches for Tessa since she was Charley's age. Often times she likes them better than grilled cheese.

the only ingredients you need

mash it up and spread
Myself, I would prefer some salt and fajita seasoning or maybe salsa mixed in...but let us not forget that kids tend to lean toward basic and bland flavors. Therefore they both like it plain, and I've yet to hear a complaint about lack of seasoning.

Avocados of course don't melt or anything so the grilling is just for added yumminess. It could be served on cold bread as well (although notably less tasty)



Slice it up and enjoy!
Charley gets a whole one too because I have to account for at least 1/3 of his food hitting the floor.

Big green lunchtime smile and everyone is satisfied

Missed One!

Auntie Jess also helped Charley practice his walking skills.

He is SO close, but not quite there. He will take one or two steps, realize what he's doing and then plop right down on his tush. If you give him a hand or even a pinkie, though, he'll walk all over the house.

What Aunties are Good For

From time to time the winter blues combined with mulitple dental procedures make a Mommy a little stir crazy. When we found out Jeremy's sister Jessica also had a case of the stir crazies, we brought her out for a week.

She's seriously the best Aunt in the world, and makes me call into question my own skills as an aunt. Setting the gold standard, she's making the rest of us look bad!

Of course she came to visit her brother, but also made for a good wine drinking buddy for me after the kids went to bed. We got a little silly sometimes.



She can quiet a fussy toddler



She makes a great face painting artist and canvas


I think somebody's trying to tell Jeremy to stop being grumpy. He did just start an exciting new job after all.


She makes a great tunnel playmate, because unlike Mommy and Daddy, Aunt Jessie can actually FIT in the tunnel!


She loved accompanying us to dance class. Following the one spectator rule, Charley and I stayed in the lobby. See his little head peaking in?


She accompanied us to the Children's Museum where we dressed up as dinosaurs, dug for fossils and took a quick tour of the Barbie exhibit before it closed. Tessa also got her very first Barbie at the gift shop.





Of course she's great to go out to eat with, since she's a chef. We went out for Italian where Tessa enjoyed mass quantities of spaghetti and clam linguine. Charley gobbled his fair share too.

On Tessa's preschool day, Jessie, Charley and I did a tour of Indy and stopped by two of my favorite places, Silver in the City and Barclona tapas restaurant. An awesome store and an awesome lunch, Mommy got spoiled!


She taught Tessa all about the value of loving her little brother.


She accompanied us to North Vernon where we hung out with the fam and ate some great Mamaw food.


She makes a great snuggle pillow


Both kids had ice cream but you can see Charley couldn't quite get over the temperature thing. Tessa ate his, her own helping of cream and cake and asked for more. That's my girl.



Hopped up on sugar, Tessa sold us 'tickets' to her dance show and spun around like a maniac.

Lastly, Aunties are great helpers during bathtime.

It sure was nice to have an extra set of hands and some fun company. A bright spot in our winter doldrums.