Drummer boy

There is seldom a dull (or quiet) moment in our house these days. Henry and William are two busy boys. And now Henry has taken up playing the drums.

Here's a special concert featuring Henry (with a little help from Patrick) :

Some very hungry caterpillars of our own

For Henry's birthday my Dad and Sandi gave him a Butterfly Bungalow kit. In the box is a bungalow (a little home for butterflies) and a postcard to mail to the company in order to receive some real caterpillars in the mail. It was the perfect gift for Henry who loves Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar and is super curious about bugs and other insects.

Shortly after mailing our postcard, our mailman brought this special delivery to the door:

Henry holding his caterpillars

There were three caterpillars/larvae inside this jar with enough food for them to eat to become big, huge caterpillars and change into chrysalides (a.k.a. cocoons) To keep this little jar safe from all of the little hands in our house we put it on our mantle and Henry checked on it a few times a day. The caterpillars definitely grew, it was crazy to see.

Henry looking at the caterpillars turned chrysalides
After about a week all 3 of them climbed to the top of the jar, hung upside down and turned into chrysalides.

The next step was to transfer them to their little butterfly home, the Butterfly Bungalow.
After another week the butterflies emerged! We woke up to find them flying around their little home. They are Painted Lady butterflies.We fed them flowers from outside and watched them for a few days. William, our resident animal lover liked watching them the most.

Since we read that their life span as a butterfly is only 2-4 weeks, we didn't want to keep them for too long. Monday night we released them in our backyard. The book that came with the bungalow said that they can typically be seen in the vicinity of their release for several days.

Henry is very concerned with them "finding their mommies". (He is going through a big mommy stage and wants to know where everyone's and everything's mommy is.)They must be off looking for their mommy because we haven't seen them around. But that's good news to their doting caretaker Henry.

Here is Henry releasing the butterflies Monday night.

Thank you Dad and Sandi for the great gift. Henry absolutely loved having these here to watch and take care of. We all learned a lot through the experience. And for those of you who thought you would never read so much about science on my blog, I hope you learned something too! :-)

William is 10 months old

William turned 10 months old last Tuesday, 8.19. My first thoughts about him being 10 months were ones of worry that I have less than 2 months to plan his birthday party. Terrible, but true. Birthday party planning aside, my little baby is getting big and is really starting to show his personality. He is content and easy-going but has a feisty and mischievous streak. He is also becoming quite the daredevil. Gasp, another one. I'm convinced that it must come from Patrick because my boys certainly don't get it from me!

Swinging at a park near my Dad and Sandi's house

He loves to swing, but lately at the park he would rather be set down in the mulch to dig, crawl around and play (and eat if no one is watching).

Showing off his teeth

He still has 6 teeth; 4 on the top and 2 on the bottom.

William in the backyard
He never stays on the blanket for long. This day he found a pine-cone and as I was snapping a picture he tried to take a bite.
He is still putting everything into his mouth!

A few notes about William at 10-months:

• He loves balls, Cheerios and dogs.
• He babbles a lot; mostly ga-ga-ga and ba-ba-ba
• He said his first word last Sunday, 8.24. He said doggy while we were on a walk and strolling past a dog. It sounds like "gaw-ghee", but he kept repeating it when I asked him if he could say doggy. He is definitely obsessed with dogs - this boy needs a pup!
• No more baby food! He eats all finger/table foods now. His first day of all table foods was Monday, 8.18. He will eat anything I set on his tray. He loves vegetables and meat! Some favorite foods are broccoli, carrots, strawberries, pineapple, cheese, yogurt, chicken, lean ground beef, turkey sausage, and definitely Cheerios.
• He is bottle/formula fed 100% of the time now. He sort of weaned himself at 9.5 months. I think it was a combination of his eating a lot of solids and my production slowing down. He did great with the transition. It has been a little bit harder on me since I was planning on nursing him until he turned one. But I'm thankful that it was an easy weaning and I will admit I have been loving caffeine (yum, Cherry Coke).
• He is busy. He pulls himself up and is now cruising along furniture or whatever he happens to be holding on to. He can stand on his own for a couple of seconds, like maybe 2, but he's only done that a few times and it seems like a fluke. Honestly, I'm in no rush for him to walk!
• The child safety gates are up. He has a couple of favorite danger hot-spots. Upstairs no matter which room I set him down in, he always crawls out the door and heads right for the stairs. I now put a gate there when we're upstairs. And downstairs when I have my back turned (it can be for only 30 seconds) he always makes a break for the bookshelf in our living room, pulls himself up and grabs the frames from the second shelf and tosses them on to the floor. I feel like a bad mom, but I feel compelled to admit, he has broken two in these brief moments. That shelf is now empty-I moved the remaining frames, and luckily he was never hurt. He still goes for that bookshelf every time we are in the living room. I've totally forgotten what it's like to have a mobile baby. Oh and when I say "no-no" he smiles and laughs. I don't think he gets it.
• He really loves his daddy and gets so excited when Patrick gets home from work.

He is a joyful baby and adds so much life to our family. We just love him so much!

Dozer Day

On Saturday, 8.23, Patrick and Brandon took Henry and Charlie to "Day of the Dozer". It's like a construction site/heavy equipment man-land. The event was founded in 1999 and the proceeds from the admission go to the community cancer center. There are dump trucks, bulldozers, excavators, backhoes, and road graders on-site that the children can watch and ride on. I was surprised to find out that Henry wanted nothing to do with riding on any of the machines. In fact, they waited in one line for almost an hour to ride in the excavator and when it was Henry's turn he said he didn't want to go! He loved watching all of the machines work and when he came home he was geared up to play with his construction trucks.

Some of the machines digging holes
Henry and Charlie

And of course...
Patrick said he made this face 95% of the time they were there!

It's a boy!

I have a new nephew and Henry and William have a new cousin! Patrick's brother Matt and his wife Lindsay welcomed Nathan Matthew into the world on Saturday evening.

His stats:
Born Saturday, August 23, 2008
8 lb 5 oz
19 in
LOTS of dark hair
Super cute!

Nathan and his big brothers Isaac (in the back) and Caleb

They love all of his hair! Caleb loves babies and is so excited to have one coming home to his own house.

Me with Nathan and Henry

Henry was very excited to see baby Nathan and wanted to hold him. He settled for touching his little tiny toes.

Proud Grandpa David and Nathan

Proud Grandma Mary and Nathan

Nathan is their eighth grandchild and seventh grandson. I think it's so neat that every baby is equally exciting and brings equal joy. They have five sons and now eight grandchildren. Isn't it crazy how families grow exponentially?

He is a beautiful baby and already looks a lot like his mommy. I've never seen a newborn with so much hair. It's precious. Holding him almost gave me the baby itch...so I gave him back quickly. He is just precious! Congratulations Matt and Lindsay!

Henry's excited face

One of Henry's most endearing qualities is his sense of wonder and excitement. I've often wondered what it would be like to spend a day in his shoes. And sometimes when the daily drudgeries of life feel like they weigh me down I've wished that I could.



Since he was around 6 months old, when he is really excited about something Henry has made a face we've come to call his "excited face". His mouth drops wide open and he gazes in wonder. I can see the little wheels turning in his head as he looks quietly but excitedly upon the object of his gaze.



He continues to make this face at the age of three, but as a mother who realizes that it all goes far too fast, I wanted to reminisce over the past three years at all of his excited moments captured on camera. I feel like my babies will always be babies, but I know that these moments are fleeting and one day Henry will be too cool to show his excitement this way.



For now I revel in his awe and wonder of world, one that only a child can truly have. I love this innocent and awe-inspired way he views the world around him.

What a gift his sense of wonder is. It makes even the mundane things of life seem a bit more exciting to me.

Holly's first house!

Holly bought her first home and moved in just a few weeks ago. I have been so excited to see her new place and celebrate with her, so I wanted to plan a visit before she had to go back to school. Last Tuesday the boys and I packed up and headed to her new condo. It is beautiful -complete with newly refinished hardwood floors, a gorgeous cherry kitchen, tons of natural light streaming in from the windows, beautiful light fixtures, tiled bathroom, an open floor plan and lots of closet space. As if that weren't enough, she continues to have excellent taste and the furniture and decor is beautiful. I just love it.

I'm disappointed with myself that I didn't take too many pictures during our visit. I wish I would have captured more rooms of the house and also more of what we did together. The boys kept us on our toes. Oh well, check her blog, hopefully she will post more pictures of her new place soon. (hint, hint)

When we first arrived, the boys were happy to be out of the van. They took out their toys and played while Holly and I sneaked into the kitchen where she had me sample the treats she has been cooking up in her new kitchen. There were delicious Key-Lime bars, Chocolate-Chip-Coconut cookie bars, and Banana muffins with a crumble topping. Yum - this girl needs a bakery!

Holly in her living room with William and Henry

Notice the adorable striped chair and beautiful oriental rug.

Sally, Holly's sister and forever the gracious hostess, invited us to their house for a delicious pizza dinner. Sally and her husband Tim have two little boys, also. Nathan turned 3 in June and Blake turned 1 last month (he and Henry have the same birthday!). Henry and Nathan had so much fun playing together. They loved running laps around the backyard and were entertained by Holly doing dozens of cartwheels across the yard.

Nathan and Henry hiding under a basketWilliam and BlakeHenry and Nathan at the kids table for dinner

We went back to Holly's house to get the boys ready for bed.

Henry and William in Holly's tub

The next morning we walked on a trail next to Holly's condo to a park. It was an awesome park, with lots of playground equipment I've never seen before. (Again, I regret not taking more pictures-we had lots of fun here.) Henry's favorite thing to do was the climbing wall. He scaled it several times and made it look easy!

Then we picked up Panera and brought lunch to Holly's mom, Delcine, and brother, Billy, at her parent's house. Henry absolutely loves Holly's brothers and had so much fun playing with "Uncle Billy". There is never a dull moment with Holly and Delcine, and as usual we had lots of fun and laughs. I even left with a new, hand-made pair of earrings by Delcine which I love. See some of her hand-made jewelry here.

It was such a fun visit, although time always flies when we're together and there's never enough of it. I'm so thrilled for Holly and absolutely love her new home! Congrats Holly!