VIDEOS!!!

Here are some cute videos. Enjoy! I'll add a few more tomorrow.

Part 2: Chattanooga CHildren's Museum

A few weeks ago, we decided to take a trip to Chattanooga. It was my Fall Break and it's only a 2 hour drive. We ended up going to the Children's Museum and loved every minute/hour of it. We stayed there for over 3 hours!! It's really not a museum and thus it's not actually named a museum but a Children's discovery center. Imagine a place where you can touch anything and everything you see. You can play in water, make a mess, paint on your own face, run like a wild chicken, and bang on an instrument without getting yelled at.

So, here goes. The pictures are out of order because blogspot automatically reverses the order... grrr. I'll try to narrate your virtual trip. :)

This is an arch made of big soft blocks. It was collapsed when we found it

and Thomas (with his long arms) put it back together.

This was on the roof. This is a swing based on a pulley system.

Thomas was holding Jrew up. :)

Playing in bubbles on the roof.

Getting crafty with daddy.

They had a room setup like a stage with a sound board and everything.

Jrew is running sound...

For Jazzy's dramatic performance in red.

Makin music with Jazzy and Jrew

A harp sized just for Jrew!

This awesome set up had 8-10 instrument Look-alikes with buttons on each of them. If you could hold down the buttons, they would each play a different part of the song. For example, Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star was a favorite. Soooo much fun! Jrew is standing outside of the stroller, but it looks like I made him stay in it. BUT I didn't.

Playing the pipes.. with the soles of flip flops.

Playing Catch Up: Part 1

So here is Part 1 of my catch up game I will be playing for a few weeks now. I wanted to try to get up some pictures for you to see before heading to bed tonight. Here are a just a few of the babies. Some of them are from the Chattanooga Children's Museum, which was awesome. We spent 3 hours there and Jrew was so sad to leave!

UPDATES:

Jrew- talking so much. Says full sentences that start with "This is..." "How you doing?" "What's wrong" and "Don't cry". He loves his books and is learning his colors. He knows almost all of them already and is learning how to count objects now. He will usually count say the dogs in a picture and then repeat "3 dogs" when he's finished counting. So cute. He asked the other night for "Daddy put Jrew to bed." He loves Jazzy and is very tolerant of her shenanigans. :)

Jazzy- almost walking. loves to babble, smack her lips, makes a clicking with her tongue, into everything, and loves to eat. She doesn't have even ONE tooth yet but loves crackers, mushy food, bananas, and biscuits. Her and Jrew can put away some pancakes! Jazzy can say mama, dada (sometimes), and bye-bye. She can also blow kisses and wave hi/bye. She has a high-pitched laugh and I am afraid she is destined to have a high-pitched voice like myself. BUT THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT! :)

Have fun with the pics. Look for more in a few days!

Quick note about the following pic: Jrew pulled ALL of the clothes of this drawer and climbed inside. He knows he is so funny!

Updates

Sorry there are no picture attached to this update. However, for my own journaling purposes, here are some updates about Jrew and Jazz.

Jrew is picking up many full sentences now including: What is it? Who's that? Where is it? I found it. I dropped my... I found my... He is quick to apologize and does so way too often. He will usually say Sorry Mama 5-10 times before moving on. I hate it. It makes me feel so guilty and so I sought out the advice of a friend. The advice was this: continue to give tons of positive attention throughout the day, acknowledge the first sorry, but ignore the rest. I guess I don't need to tell you how hard this is. I just want to hug him every time and remind him that "It's alright". Sometimes, he says sorry for no reason at all.

He's a sweet boy. He is very empathetic and his preschool teacher said he is always ready to help others kids feel better if they are crying when their parents leave. He shares and listens well at school - apparently we are doing something wrong at home. Just kidding. He loves the word NO! but usually responds to correction with "yes ma'am".

Jazz is standing up more often now. She is on the verge of taking steps between objects like the ottoman and the couch, etc... She looks as if she's going to attempt the step, but changes her mind quickly to a crawl. She did step forward with one foot yesterday in an attempt to let go of me and move to the couch. She is a wild one. She loves to growl at you and LOVES to play rough. She rolls on the floor with Jrew all the time. She also loves to pull his hair to which he replies with "Oh Jazzy". :) He couldn't get any sweeter.

Jazz is saying Mama, Bye-bye, and Hi. She also says Dada sometimes. She loves to babble. She is eating some table food. Her dinner a few nights ago included soft green beans, bread, and a vienna sausage. She also loves bananas, crackers, and graham crackers. She is not too good at the sippy cup but loves it very much. She is also doing well transitioning to formula during the day when I'm at work! So sad to know she doesn't really NEED me anymore.

I must go. I guess I have to teach something today. :)

Jazz: 8 months going on teenager...

Jazz is now 8 months old and it's about high time I write a blog all about her and her "awesomeness"! She is truly a sweet darling and I officially named her my sugar bug. I absolutely love holding her, kissing her sweet face, and seeing her light up. Here are some funny and amazing things about her personality and tricks! :)

Jazz has done everything early. She was rolling over both ways by 4 months, sitting up at 5 months, crawling at 6 months, pulling up at 7 months, and now she's starting to cruise around the ottoman in the living room! Unbelievable is what she is! She definitely aims to keep up with Big Brother Jrew - crawling from one room to the other in order to be with him. She also follows me from room to room just because she likes company. :)

She has recently started making this growling sound while smiling, and it is quite funny. When Thomas makes the same sound to her, she jumps every single time: it startles her.

Jazz is a very good napper and very good sleeper. She goes to sleep for the most part on her own. I just give her a paci & blanket and she is good to go. However, if she hears noises like Jrew playing or me talking, she's more inclined to stand up in her crib and play. She is so good at going to sleep on her own it's shocking. Jrew was not like that. He wanted to be held nonstop. She is a busy body and cannot sit still. She'd rather roll around in her crib until she's asleep than for me to restrict her. So when I do get to hold her when she is sleeping, I cherish it and kiss her every second. Those are some of the sweetest moments of my life!

So here are some pics of Jazz and her beautiful face. I would also like to point out that her hair has been curly since 4 months although Jrew's hair didn't start curling up until 8 months or so. Her hair has even grown so much in the past few months that I am starting to fret over how thick it's going to be. :) If I put her hair up in a pony tail, it makes one tiny thick curl - which Thomas said made her look like a sumo-wrestler. Funny, it was half-true. But my baby is not a sumo-wrestler - she's a princess. AND Jrew has started calling her that. He will say "Hey Princess" in a sweet high-pitched voice: just like mommy!

Wait no more! Here are some sweet photos of Jazz over the past 3 months!

Jrew - "You too would look mean to if you were stuck in a stroller in 100 degree heat." Jazz - Isn't she gorgeous?

Straight chillin' like her daddy. She's already learning to be gangsta'

There's that sly grin I see so often. Such a ham.

My sister Amanda graduated high school. We had a good time watching the ceremony from outside the fenced football field b/c we got there on time but I stayed a few extra minutes to feed Jazz in the car. They ultimately locked the gates and refused to let anyone in! Again, it was an outdoor ceremony!!! That is why Jazz look unhappy I assure you.

These two are so close. They are constantly rolling around on the floor wrestling each other. I mean, hugging each other. :)

Summer 2010

Explanation of the above picture: Jrew so kindly put his bath animals in front of the glass door so they could enjoy the sunshine and look out on the world. :)

Oh yeah.... another explanation of the above picture: Jrew's experiment... fun huh?

Updates:

Jazz - is scooting on tummy, rocking back and forth on knees, sitting up, laughing, smiling, reaching for mama & toys, and patient with big Brother Jrew.

Jrew - starting to mimic/copy everything we say. Usually says "I see it" when he sees something familiar. He also prays every night by copying what I say. So sweet. Loves music as always: picking up rhythm on the drums, "reading" books, singing, and generally being a comedian 99% of the time.

Snooze

As you all know by now, Nashville experienced a terrible and monumental flood just under a month ago. It was a very sudden and extreme event that took everyone by surprise.

Just after 3:00 in the afternoon, I was saying good bye to my friend Trae (who had just finished cutting my hair). She closed down the shop and we parted ways with a slight comment about how heavy the rain was coming down. Within several minutes of driving away, I hit a patch of traffic. I had planned to stop at Wal-Mart to get a few things (like Shampoo because I was completely out) and some baby items. Having grown accustomed to the traffic in Nashville, I didn't think much about the waiting. I did notice a house next to the road which was slightly lower in level. The entire yard was flooded and the people were wading through the water to get into the house. Not sure why everyone was in the yard, but assuming everything was fine, I kept driving... not looking too far ahead and not realizing what was really going on. SNOOZE

Moments later, I found myself facing a flooded road. Several people ahead of me had made it through the water, so I thought I could too. I did... but halfway through I realized I was in deep, so to speak, and was just hoping I wouldn't get stuck.

Took a left turn to head to Wally World, my ultimate desired destination but ran into another flooded road. Again, thinking.. I can make it. And yes, I made it again, but now I was very afraid. Trae called to be sure I was safe and she too had ran into road blocks. She turned around to go a new route on 24 East and I took 24 West to head to my house. I actually drove quite cautiously and arrived home in a surprising 30 minutes. NOTE: I drove 24 West and passed several exits including Briley Parkway. Nearly a half hour later, the news was reporting that exit as being flooded and video proved it was completely underwater and impassable. Oh, the hand of God was upon my car and my path... I am certain of that.

It wasn't long before I heard from Trae again... she was trapped on 24 East just before Bell Road. If you haven't watched the news or heard, this was one of the worst trouble spots and someone actually lost their life after getting stuck in the flash flood at this exit. Trae sat for many many hours scared to death. We also lost contact for about 30 minutes and were fearing for the worst. Trae had just told me earlier that day "I can't swim.". SNOOZE

No one wants to face difficulty and this was a difficult situation. I can't tell you how scary it was to watch the flash flooding live on tv while my friend sat helplessly waiting for something. In that part of the interstate, there is no median- only a wall. And no one was turning around. But, an angel in disguise, a government vehicle, advised her to follow him. They turned around on the emergency lane and drove back to the prior exit. It was there she waited until Thomas was able to get to her and lead her home. Of course, this took hours due to the re-routing constantly to avoid flooded roads.

The Point: The floods were worse than any one person or any one place could have perceived until it was all over - days later. It wasn't until Monday that it began to sink in: tragedy, disaster, emergency, desperation, nothingness. All of this was sinking in. We drove out one evening to eat dinner and were amazed to see firsthand what we had seen on our screen. It was more than devastating, it was beyond words. SNOOZE

I asked Thomas if he thought our basement was okay. Many friends had more than a foot of water in their basement and they were having to use sump pumps and good ol' buckets to remove the water. It was a grueling process I am sure. Assured we were okay, I "double-checked" just to "be sure". SNOOZE: PLEASE LET ME SNOOZE NOW

And immediately I saw the water line on the wall leading into the basement. You could even see the "river" path in the yard leading to the basement door. New Note: our basement floor is all dirt and most walls are dirt... a muddy mess was waiting on us.

Thus ensued Thomas tracking through the mud and removing many, many boxes of photos, memorabilia, books, cds, tapes (yes I said tapes), and other "stuff". It was oddly exhausting to separate every single photo to dry in the sun. It was also oddly nostalgic to see pictures from college and even high school. Pre- "Thomas&Dita". But then, the saddest loss I would experience would be considered ridiculously silly and insignificant in light of what others had lost through the rushing waters.

Thomas retrieved a chest I had been saving since I was probably 13 years old. It contained so many memories. Letters from my mother as she struggled to put her life back together, letters from my grandmother who cared so deeply that I would focus on school/college, letters from my best friend from Junior High School after I moved 1,000 miles away for high school. Snooze...

porcelain dolls, my first Barbie (I bought her with my own birthday money when I was 8 and she cost about $9.) my report cards from 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade. certificates from Bible School. my high school diploma. letters to/from Thomas when we first fell in love. graduation cap and gown from HS & College. The list goes on and on.

The sun was so bright and warm that day. It was almost blinding. I sat on the ground for much of that time sorting through which letters to salvage, which to throw away. I tried hard not to cry but kept finding myself mourning the loss of my things or at least the "condition" of my things.

One other thing I found was a snooze button. yes, a snooze button. When I was in college, I bought a little white alarm clock for my dorm room. It came with a "remote" snooze button that was attached to a 4-5 feet long cord which connected to the alarm clock console. It was a nice thing to have at first, but quickly became a hinderance. a wall. a disruption from a much needed structure/routine. It was eventually retired and stored in my chest. Not sure why it was there until now:

I stood in my yard holding the snooze button realizing I had been pushing snooze all weekend. Most of us had in some ways. No one wanted to really face the reality of what had happened. avoiding the basement. cooking dinner like normal while the news ran story after story of flash flooding that Saturday evening.

So, my story concludes. We are safe, healthy, and blessed. And many in Nashville are also safe but in desperate need of rebuilding, clothes, simple necessities like school uniforms and socks, and countless other items. Let us not keep hitting the snooze in life. Let us wake up: taste it all: bitter or sweet: good or bad: and let us not give up the faith.

Psalm 69:14-16 (New International Version)

¹⁴ Rescue me from the mire,
do not let me sink;
deliver me from those who hate me,
from the deep waters.

¹⁵ Do not let the floodwaters engulf me
or the depths swallow me up
or the pit close its mouth over me.

¹⁶ Answer me, O LORD, out of the goodness of your love;
in your great mercy turn to me.

On the move... and more to come.

So, here are a few quick videos of Jazz starting to crawl.. well I'm not sure how to classify it. but she is definitely on the move scooting on her tummy and pumping those legs! Jrew is a ham... he loves the camera. So, he makes a few appearances.

I will upload a new post very soon with a little coverage about the flood.

This video link is Jazz starting to scoot/crawl on her tummy.

This video link is Jrew laughing hysterically, in case you missed it on the last post.

Still Alive and Kickin'

and poopin' and cryin' and walkin' and runnin' and talkin' and learning how to sit up'in and workin' and eatin' and livin' and prayin' and thankin' God for Spring Break and warm weather headed our way!

It has been some busy days since I started back to work. It's unbelievable how quickly the kids are growing. Both of them are doing new things every day. I just want to do nothing but hold them, kiss them, and squeeze them when I get home from work. I love it. Jrew always greets me with the sweetest of smiles and usually with two or three new words. Jazzy is ready to eat when I walk through the door and simply must have her way. The Lord has blessed us indeed.

Jrew can now say so many words it would be crazy to mention them all. But, he is also starting to say phrases sometimes. A few days ago he wanted something I had and I put it away - he begged me to have it and said "I ona hold it". It wasn't quite so defined but that is exactly what he said, TWICE. Of course I didn't let him hold it because I believe it was a pair of nail scissors. He laughs all the time and truly thinks he was born to ENTERTAIN. Of course he was. That is what he does 24/7 - Scratch that - 23.5/7. He does spend some of his time throwing temper tantrums when I a) don't let him stay in the laundry room without me b) make him leave the bathroom and close the door c) close the refrigerator door without letting him play in there and a host of other reasons.

The newest words to make their appearance in Jrew's vocabulary have come from overhearing me and Thomas. UT-OH. As Thomas said, "I can't believe we're in the spelling stages now." We have definitely go to watch what we say. Now you know us very well probably, and we do not use fowl language. But words that seem harmless to us certainly do not belong in Jrew's world of language. He recently picked up "Oh shoot" and "Oh my goodness". I must admit it is very funny to hear him. He also says "love you" and "night-night".

Jrew is also sleeping in his big boy bed now. We have officially been doing this for about 2 1/2 weeks now!!!!

Jazz is a sweetheart. She is doing so well holding up her head, she started sitting up in the bumbo this week. If you don't know, a bumbo is a small chair for infants that basically wraps around their little body and legs to help teach them how to sit up. She does so well in it, I just can't believe it. She's doing this probably a whole month sooner than I would've expected. She is growing out of the crying incessantly stage and is becoming very alert and aware of her surroundings. She is starting to notice Jrew and he is loving it. He leans down and says "Jazz". He talks to her all the time. Tonight, he and I were trying to teach her how to laugh... That was so much fun.

Jazz is nursing well. She had a very difficult time taking the bottle when I first went back to work but is doing fine now. One day I thought I would have a fit because she had only drank 2 ounces of milk the entire day! She's up to normal now. Drinking between 4-5 ounces each feeding! I can't believe she's outgrowing clothes like a weed. She is starting to wear some of her new and hand me down clothes in the closet. What a cutie. She smiles all the time now and I can't wait for her to pick up giggling.

I must go to bed now. I will try to update more often and with more pictures. We are making plans to go to a local park this week "Dinosaur Park". I've been told to bring my camera and Jrew will love it. So, look for that post soon! It has been a bit tough lately but we are so blessed beyond words. We are so thankful God is faithful each day and his provisions are neverending.

The above picture is Jrew playing with these very large sunglasses - Baliwood Style!

Let's just compare: This is Jrew at 12 weeks above and Jazz at 12 weeks below. They are definitely brother and sister. But she is definitely a princess! :)