Enjoying our tax dollars

Last Friday, Jim and I braved the nice weather (we're talking horrible allergies, people) and took Henry to play in the fountain in downtown Hillsboro. It really doesn't do it justice to say he had a good time. He ran around for an hour and STILL wasn't ready to leave, even when we said, "Henry, let's go eat dinner!" :) Maybe it sounds silly, but I was so proud of him! He was totally unafraid of the huge jets of water - even got sprayed in the eyes and up the nose and it never stopped him. It was one of those times when you really love being a parent, watching your child just love life. Not that I don't always love being a parent. Sometimes just more than others. You know what I mean. :)

Enjoy:

I can see us getting a lot of use from these fountains this summer!

Random pics just because

...well, because I seem to never find the time to blog. Henry is doing great - learning in leaps and bounds! It's crazy how much these little tykes can take in and remember. Henry has known all his letters for about 2 months and now knows most of the normal colors (no tourquoise or magenta). He is talking more and more in short fragments - "more milk please" - and it is getting easier to understand what he wants (thank heavens!). Of course, there are always THOSE days. I mean, he IS a toddler after all. :)

Anyhow, here are some pics:

Grandpa and Henry = trouble!



I love life! (look at all those teeth!)

Posing



In mommy's shoes

One more bit of news...Henry has started calling me mommy. Love it!

Copycat

I love copying my friends. :) Today, my inspiration was Jen, with her new blog design. So I googled me one, too.

I have been bad at picture taking as of late...I will make it my goal this afternoon and blog later!

All things daddy

Something has changed in Henry in the past 2 weeks. Something that has always been there, but not quite...so...loud. That would be his obsession with his daddy. It's always been present - wanting to put on Jim's shoes, doing whatever Jim is doing, chasing Jim when he's trying to mow the lawn, etc. More recently, this obsession has turned to an all-out trauma central whenever Jim leaves the house. He has always (for the most part) done this with me, but now when Jim leaves for work or whatever, Henry THROWS.A.FIT. He is so upset and just wails and wails, releasing huge crocodile tears. Kinda cute. I know it makes Jim feel good. Not that Henry is crying, but that he jsut wants him to stay around. :)

Here are some pics of Henry sporting Jim's outerwear:

TADA!

Can you see me?

This one is a bit long

Am I a genius, or what?

Fun in the sun

Just to add to Sarah's pics of the day:

Cute boys: check!

Yummy treats: check!

Happy babies: check!

Sun + water + crazy sprinkler + slide + Aunt Sarah's homemade popsicles=FUN!

Good ol' fashioned eating fun

Corn on the cob

Deeeelicious!

The Stroller Gang 2008

We all went for a trip to the Woodburn Outlets last week and decided it was tradition to get a picture of all the boys together in their strollers.

It was great having so many new additions to our stroller gang!

After we got our shop on, we went to Jen's to hang out and let the boys have some freedom after being as patient as possible (not) while their mommies shopped. Was that a run on sentence? Anyhow.

On the ride to Jen's, Henry wet his pants and Ethan spilled water on his pants, so they got to play pantless! What is better than that? We wanted to get a pic of the toddlers together. The three oldest were really into it but we could not get Henry to stand any closer at first. Hee!

How fun are these kids?

Lovely mama and her precious wee one.

Jen and Mike - I mean Jack. :)

All in all, a very fun and exhausting day.

Things toddlers like

Well, you know, for like 2 minutes at a time. :)

Henry would like to share some things that we did this morning:

I played with this sheep magnet.

The sheep says, "BAAAAAAAAAA!"

See, you stick it here.

I read some books.

I played blocks.

What a fun morning!

Geez, mom. Spoil the mood with the word "nap" why don't ya.

Guess who's sleeping soundly? :)

Blog, who?

Posts have been few as of late, but I'm hoping that with my part-time job being OVER (yes!) that I'll have more time on my hands. I just mopped the kitchen floor for the first time in...wait for it...2 months! ACK! I mean, I DID spot clean it with bleach cleaner and all. Anyhow, now maybe I can keep up on that AND taking pictures AND blogging!

My latest project is converting our guest bedroom into Henry's big boy bedroom. It's a huge mess at the moment and I hope to paint it either later this week or next week, then strip and restain an old dresser and then, you know, accessorize! Ok, so I've already got the accesssories. We (Jim will laugh at that word) decided to keep the nursery as it is until it needs not be a nursery anymore. So far, Henry loves to play and read on his big boy bed. I suppose that is good news.

No, I don't know when we'll actually make the change, but I do know Henry is a wee bit large for his current sleeping situation, so I'm all for as soon as possible. :)



Until next time.

My spiffy little man

Henry, in his Sunday attire, excited about another new day:



...and planning on being well hydrated.

PS Grandma J, the pants fit great and we got lots of comments on his sweater vest and matching socks!

We're still here!

Yes, everyone, we are still alive. Henry has been A-OK for just over a week and I'm over the mono so we're doing fantastic. I think Jim picked up the mono, but also seems to be doing better each day.

Jim and I are certain that Henry was hoarding new knowledge while he was sick b/c the moment he woke up all better, he was jibber-jabbering away with all these new words and talking to us like it was all very normal. He also has been known to be very moody in the past, but since he's been well, he has turned into this funny, always happy little boy. I probably just jinxed it but whatever. He has been SO fun!

Here are my new favorite Henry-isms:

Bless you mama/daddy
(oh yes, after we sneeze OR burp)

Ho Ho Ha Ha??
(wanting HoHoHo Hosanna over and over and over)

He is totally into giving eskimo kisses...shoot

When we all sit down at the table, he throws his hands out, waiting for us to pray so he can eat. :)

Throwing his arms out and saying, "TA DA!"

Here's a pic of him two weekends ago when we visited Jim's parents in Lyden:



That is all for now. Many things to do...life of a mother, you know.

Zoo trip #2

We were able to do a few fun things while my mom was here and going to the zoo was one of them. It was so fun - Henry was WAY more into the animals this time!

My best friend...Goat

"Mama...the kitty is looking at me!"

Yep. He's not a baby anymore!

Yee-haw!

Green! There's green everywhere!

I'll tell you what...having a really sick child is so sad! We found out yesterday that Henry has ear infections and a sinus infection and will mostly likely hold his fever (which has been steady at 102) for a few days. Everything is different. He didn't wake up until 9 am this morning, he ate one, that's O-N-E, nibble of banana and three Cheerios, and then asked for "nigh-nigh" at 10:30 am. During this period of awake time, we pretty much just sat on the couch and watched "Poo Poo," with the occasional chuckle at silly Pooh leading to a round of coughing to which Henry would sincerely reply, "No...no..." Poor kid - he doesn't know what to do with the "stuff" that gets coughed up and he looks at me so desperately to help. He pretty much just swallows it back down. Usually during his protesting of the nasty stuff making it's way into his mouth, he ends up blowing two lovely streams of green liquid from his nostrils. Blech.

Anyhow, we're holding up just fine. It seems that Henry knows what his body needs and is very good at asking to just go to bed. Such a sweet boy.

Here's a pic of him this morning watching his favorite bear: