Captain Adorable

Who needs Captain America when I have 2 Captain Adorable's!

Jonathan, on 8/14/08



Ben, on 8/7/11



You Decide 2011

No not the election...yet...is anyone else already tired of the 2012 Presidential coverage? Ugh, it's almost as bad as this heat! Anyway, it's something more fun than that!
You know when a baby is born there is so much time spent analyzing who the baby looks like...that's a given. And you know even though they won't admit it, the parents secretly want their baby to resemble to them. With Jonathan, well, he looks a lot like his daddy, there are some things here and there that will remind me of me or someone in my family, but not super obvious and it is more personality and facial expressions that I see!
With Ben, Michael and I both were kind of stumped. For a month or so we would look at him and say, 'who in the world do you look like?' We had agreed that we thought he might be taking after my side of the family. Then there were times that I would look at Ben and see a facial expression that my dad would make, that was unreal. Then one day we came across this baby photo of ME! I was amazed. I'm not too sure how old I am in the photo, but I do believe that he and I look pretty similar.
So, weigh in, tell me what you think! Look alike or am I only dreaming?   



Julie as a baby, age unknown.




Ben, 12 weeks.



Beating the Heat

Today, Saturday August 6th is the 36th day in a row of over 100 degrees here in DFW! If we continue this way by next Saturday we will beat the record from back in 1980, which is 42 days in a row! Yikes. Not a record that I am too keen on beating. This past week was the highest of the 100's we have had...110 for a few days in a row. You kind of feel like you could burst into flames when you walk out side. Not the best for an infant, 3 year old and a hot natured momma.

Jonathan cries when I put him in his car seat because it's so hot.

Jonathan is usually attached to Michael's hip when he is home. He assists in taking out the trash, watering the plants, getting the mail, bringing in the groceries...etc. But lately, Jonathan will excitedly scream, "I'ma go wiff you daddy!", get his shoes on and run to the door, take two steps out and stop..."Um, I'ma go check on momma and Ben, it's too hot outside."

So we have stayed in as much as we possibly can without going completely crazy! Jonathan has such a great imagination that play time has been really fun lately! He loves to paint, draw, play with cars, build blocks...etc. I know he will relish the time he will get outside once it cools off a bit, but he is being such a good sport about it in the mean time!

Ben is still a super happy laid back baby. He makes me so happy! I love the stage he is at right now. He is 14 weeks, he is only waking up once or twice at night, taking about 3 naps a day, smiles and coos all the time and he won't take his eyes off of me, haha! I am currently the center of his universe. He likes daddy and Jonathan a lot too! I am enjoying this time because I know it doesn't last too long! Like when we are eating dinner, I will put him in his bouncy chair next to the dinner table. He will literally sit there and stare at me the entire time and when I turn to look at him he gets the biggest smile on his face! It's awesome! He doesn't care for the heat much either. The only time he really gets fussy is when I put him in his car seat, it gets way too hot in there for him!

Here are some video's of my boy's. I think they are pretty cute kids. I am one proud momma!

Just an example of his sweet nature.

In the car leaving Gran's house (Pat's). After a full afternoon of playing with Uncle James and Aunt Anna Marie!

Here are some pictures of what we have been up to lately...staying inside...



BFF's Will and Ben. Love this photo.




Carmex anyone?



Sweetie Pie.

Finger Paints



Jonathan wants to kiss Ben. Ben wants to eat Jonathan. I think they are the sweetest.



Family Movie Night!

Momma and Boys.



Daddy and Boys...same afternoon, I had just handed them off. :)



He built that all by himself! I am so proud! He calls it "TownTown Tallas" or Downtown Dallas. Where daddy works!

Readin' and Writin'

Yikes, it has been a month since my last post...SORRY! :) If you could only see my post lists, I have started writing a handful of different posts, but somehow I always get interrupted and never finish! :)

We have been going to the library pretty regularly this summer. Jonathan loves to go! He loves books. Some afternoons he will go in his room and read to himself, he doesn't want me to join, just all by himself! Then he will get bored with that and just line them up! He loves to line things up. Here are some fun book moments I caught on camera over the summer...





At the Hurst Library, he is looking up at the train!





Reading to brother just days after coming home from the hospital!



Lining up some of his favorite books, Backyardagains, 2 New Testament Bibles, Benjamin Bunny and Peter Rabbit. You can't forget your cell phones either. Notice everything is biggest to smallest.



Lining our books up!





You can also line your books up this way...





Reading by himself in his room!



My favorite! Reading his Bible! He was reading through it really fast one day and then shut it and said, "All Done"!

We have also begun practicing writing!!! He is so excited about it and a natural! Most of the pictures I took didn't turn out because he writes so faintly, but as he practices more and gets better, I will share more! I am so proud of my little boy...he is getting to be so big!

That is my writing on top and his below. Can you see the "A" and "N". Since I watched him write it I can tell more probably, but I am so impressed!

Ben is 10 weeks old!

Ben is now 10 weeks! He is such a sweet, laid back, all around good kid. He loves his brother, he never takes his eyes off of him! He loves his daddy, when Michael gets down by him Ben gets the biggest smile on his face! It's awesome! And I believe he loves me too! :) He and I have a good time together. He likes talking, but not too much. He giggles in his sleep, I really want to know whats so funny!

Michael and I are so blessed to have such amazing boys! Jonathan still loves his little brother. We actually have to tell him to stop kissing Ben because he does it so much! (Jonathan is a really affectionate kid :)

Ben had his 2 month check up last week and he got a clean bill of health! All is well! He has grown so much! He weighs 14.8 lbs! Yikes! He is just trying to catch up with his cousin Will (who is 4 months older and only around 2 lbs heavier!).

Michael and Jonathan went running daddy/son errands today and Ben and I were all alone...what to do on one of the hotest days of the year? We had a photo session! Out of the 600 I took, here are a few of my favorites!


The next 12 photo's are a series of rapid shutter that I took, he is smiling and talking to me...this is pretty much how he is all the time...he is so fun!



Angel Face



Serious Face



Talking Face




Silly Face




What'd You Say? Face




I love this one (I photoshoped it a little). It looks like he is saying I'm number one...or number two if you count the thumb. I think Jonathan would say Ben's number two! :)



This is...please stop taking pictures of me and feed me face!

Remembering Daddy

Today, the 4th of July 2011, marks the 3 year anniversary of my father's passing. As I sit here thinking about him, the things that come up the most are the times filled with laughter. He and I liked to laugh A LOT. We had the same sense of humor and liked to joke around. He liked teasing people and I liked laughing at it. He had a laugh unlike any other. I loved to hear it. It was soothing to me. I would look up a joke prior to calling him, just so I could hear him laugh.
The last time I saw him was July 1, 2008. It was a Tuesday night. Mom was still in the hospital, but she was on the mend and things were looking up for the first time. It had been a pretty intense week. We thought were going to lose mom at least 3 times. Dad was the most stressed I had ever seen him. He hadn't left her side for a second while she had been in the hospital. Jonathan was 2.5 months old and due to mom's weakened immune system condition I couldn't take him up to the hospital, so I had to wait until Michael got home from work before I could go see them.
Now that things were getting better with mom, my thoughts had shifted to dad this particular day. I kept thinking, I needed to cheer him up, I needed to hear him laugh!! I hadn't come up with anything by the time Michael had come home, and as I started to leave, it came to me! I ran back to the computer and I downloaded from ITunes the audio CD of one of my favorite comedian's, Brian Regan. I had told dad about him before, but he had never seen or heard his act.
When I got to the hospital I picked up some snacks for the 3 of us and ran up to their room! I was so happy to see both of them sitting up and smiling. It was such a relief from the days past. We sat around and chatted for a while. Then I popped the in CD! As I suspected, Dad laughed and laughed, so did mom, by the way! They both loved it. He actually fell out of his chair once he was laughing so hard. Mom kept shhhing him, since we were after all in the hospital, but she would even be giggling through her shhhes! The whole experience made me happy and made my soul glad. To see both my parents, laughing and carrying on amidst such difficult times is exactly who they were and is exactly who they taught me to be. 

Here are some of my favorite laughing photo's...

Amy and I are collecting stories/memories of mom and dad to share with our children when they get older. If you would like to share a story with us, we would be more than appreciative!

Here are a couple of Brian Regan video's from YouTube. I could have posted a million more, look him up for a good laugh! I hope you enjoy him as much as we did and still do...

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Hope you enjoy!