Chocolate Covered Pretzels

I told Orion that we were going to make chocolate covered pretzels. I started getting stuff out. Then I hear him say Mommy, I made chocolate covered pretzels. And he did.

Then we made them for real. Yum!

We also made peanut butter cups. Dee-lish! Isaac brought some to work on Friday and I brought some to my mom's group Friday night. Orion got one piece of each and then had to wait for Valentines Day for any more.

It is tradition in our home that we eat cake for breakfast on Valentines Day. This year I made Hobee's coffee cake and served it with cinnamon tea. I couldn't find blueberries (gasp!) so I used peaches in it instead. It was delicious, not like at Hobee's, but quite possibly better.

I think I'm gonna go crunch up some chocolate covered pretzels and throw them into some vanilla ice cream. (You can start drooling now.)

Wrap but don't re-wrap!

Here is a video just for Susie ;-) and all my other baby wearing friends out there. If this is as clear as mud, just let me know and I'll try to clarify. I didn't really prepare what I was going to say so perhaps I missed something. ***Warning*** I'm a fast talker!

On a related note...
Apparently you cannot make a video with a three year old in the room. In the first take, Orion decided to cross in front of the camera to go to the sink for some water. Then he sat down next to the camera and started singing. In the second take he started talking about the birth of Jules, since the tripod was set up in the tub where Jules was born. During the third take he started talking to Jules. For the forth and final take he was kicked out of the bathroom :-)

Haircuts!

Orion's hair was getting in his eyes so I decided it was time to cut it. I made the mistake of doing it while I was alone with the boys. Jules was napping so I thought I'd go ahead and give Orion a haircut. Then Jules woke up. I was covered in little bits of hair. I got Jules back to sleep and came back to finish the cut. Suddenly I was worried that I wouldn't be able to finish before Jules decided to wake up for good. So I asked Orion if I could just buzz the whole thing. He agreed. It actually didn't save me much time since his hair lies so flat it wasn't very easy to buzz. I didn't like it much and neither did Orion, but now I think he looks cute. I love his cowlick. Orion would tell people, It's too short, but it will grow. It took him a week to realize that it wasn't going to grow out very fast. He wants it longer in the front because he likes pushing it back.

Anyway, here he is talking on the phone to a grandparent. It is really fun to listen in on his conversations and watch his facial expressions.

I got my hair cut, too!

My hair was down to my butt. I had it all chopped off and I will be sending it to Locks of Love. I now weigh a quarter pound less.

What do you think? I am quite pleased with the results. Perhaps next time I will be even more daring. Haircuts are fun!!!

Side view.

Julesey Poolsey

When you name your child Jules, there's no need for a nickname, but they happen anyway. I started calling him Julesey, then Julesey Poolsey (pudding and pie, kissed the girls and made them cry). Then Orion decided that we were the Berenstain Bears and that Jules was Honey Bear. (If you haven't read the Berenstain Bears in a while, they eventually have another girl cub.) When we aren't the Berenstain Bears, then we are trains, except for Orion who is Mr. Conductor. I get to be Henry, Isaac is Gordon, and currently Jules is James Percy. (They are all friends of Thomas the Tank Engine. James and Percy are two separate engines.)

Jules sleeps pretty well. He is is having tummy time. No, wait! He is napping. This is his first spontaneous nap. Orion didn't do this until, hmm..., December 24, 2008. (See the last post.)

Jules talks whenever he can. He loves to babble and we love to listen to it. All you have to do is look and him, say a few words and then give him a chance to respond and off he goes. He seems to understand how conversation works, so if you keep talking then he stays quiet. He doesn't want to butt in.

EC is going well. We are only fastening the diapers onto him when we are away from home. Even Isaac has relaxed about the whole nakey butt thing. It helps that he gets virtually all of his poops in the potty. (At this age babys tend to be obvious about when they need to poop. We'll see what happens in a month or so. That's when Orion stopped being obvious.) Pees are hit or miss; it depends on how much attention I give him. I have learned the art of positioning a baby over a diaper, so that when I miss his cues we don't get a mess. Right now the game is communication, because without it we will not do so well once he starts crawling.

Happy 2009!

We started off the holiday season by trimming the tree. Orion enjoyed helping this year. He likes to cluster all the ornaments in one spot. Isaac prefers them all equidistant. It was a constant battle that Orion was completely unaware of.

It just isn't a holiday without sharing it with friends. We had the Lambies over for the first night of Hanukkah. Our dinner was a success, but the jelly donuts were a bit raw in the middle. We had over Isaac's work friend, Dr. Dennis, for Hanukkah a few nights later and finally got the donuts right. We also tried making our own latkes and they were great, too. Ooh, and the homemade applesauce was so yummy. Next year I want to add pretzels to our Hanukkah fare.

This year Orion got to light his own menorah. He got some help the first few nights, but was doing it on his own by the eighth night. He also loved picking out what color candles to go into his menorah.

I had romantic notions of a Christmas Eve spent around the fire, sipping hot chocolate, eating cookies and reciting The Night Before Christmas. The fire got started a bit late, and when I came out with the hot chocolate I found a little boy with a chocolate mouth asleep on the couch. No waiting up for Santa this year.

The boys on Christmas morning. Jules's outfit reads My First Christmas.

My dad and step-mother arrived in time for dinner on Christmas and will be heading to the airport in a few hours. We had a great time with them and they got to see Jules for the first time.

The happy family on the last night of Hanukkah. Well, 3 out of 4 isn't so bad.

The boys and the guests are all in bed for the night, so Isaac and I are alone with Ryan Seacrest to bring in the new year. 2008 was great and we are looking forward to even better things in 2009. Happy New Year!

Front Torso Cross Carry

Susie from Magic City Slingers recently made and posted a video JUST FOR ME ;-) to demonstrate this carry, so I had to post a photo. It is strapless, so I'll be doing it more when the weather warms. I know, it just got cold. And windy. We actually had some snow here last night. Like one or two flakes. So anyway, I don't know if you can see it in the photo, but Jules was hanging on for dear life with his right hand. Of course he is completely secure, but he is a grabber. He can be hard to put down at times. I guess he doesn't trust me. Sheesh! I've only dropped him once so far.

Our Thanksgiving

We spent this Thanksgiving with the Johnsons- Ally, Dan, Paul and Phillip. They just moved into a lovely new home (on Jules's birthday, sorry we can't help with the move, but...) and so we brought them a housewarming gift/centerpiece for the dinner table. It was all my idea, but completely executed by Isaac and Orion. Doesn't it look all Martha Stewart? All the folliage was from our yard.

One of my favorite holiday traditions is making butter. Just put some whipping cream in a jar and shake. First it makes whipped cream, but if you continue to shake then it separates into butter and milk. We added honey afterwards for some yummy honey butter to go with my homemade dinner rolls. (You know, the ones that sent me into labor.)

These photos were taken before the boys were tired out from all the shaking.

Making centerpieces, making butter.... what's left? Oh, yeah. Making trouble ;-)