Favorite

Before my children were born I remember looking through all of the adorable and soft stuffed animals and blankets that family and friends and gifted to them. I wondered which ones would they like? Would they have a favorite stuffed animal, or a favorite blanket? I think it is so adorable when a child has an attachment to an object, something that brings him or her comfort. It is helpful to parents, but can also cause serious issues should that favorite object ever go missing!

I mentioned yesterday that Jacob has a favorite Lion, who was not too badly injured in our disaster.

Jacob's Lion, fresh out of the dryer

Richard's Grandma Doris, (Jacob's Great-Grandma), bought him this stuffed lion when she came to visit us right after his birth. For many months it was just another stuffed animal in our collection. But one day, inexplicably, several months ago, Jacob decided that "Lion" as we creatively call him, was his favorite. Jacob gets a huge smile on his face whenever he spots his beloved toy. He will immediately hug him, or hold him close to his cheek and cuddle. I have seen him give kisses to Lion, and even try to feed Lion snacks; Lion is also Jacob's pillow every night and every naptime. Lion is so special to Jacob. Often times, if Jacob is crying, it's because he can't get to Lion. A few nights ago we spent the night at my parent's house, and Jacob was playing with Lion and accidentally threw him over a gate. Jacob started sobbing and screaming, I ran over to see if he had hurt himself, but quickly realized that he was just upset because he couldn't get to his friend. I think Jacob's bond with this stuffed animal is so precious. I love the way he lights up over Lion. I know that we may have a problem in the future, though. When we discovered how much Jacob loves that Lion, we began researching who made it and where we could buy more, should we ever need to replace him. Sadly, Lion was a limited edition, and is no longer produced or sold. Lion is very well-loved and well-worn. I am already sad for the day when we will have to say goodbye to Lion. I hope it isn't any time soon.

Jacob reunited with Lion

"Hello, my friend!"

Hugging Lion

Diapers Need Padlocks

The boys had a really big morning/afternoon today. We started off by going to the Everett Children's Museum, followed by lunch at Subway, and then a 3-mile walk. By the time we got home, I figured they would be exhausted. It is a muggy day, so I changed their diapers, took off their shoes, and decided to let them sleep with their jeans off, so that they wouldn't be so warm.

As I put Jacob in his crib, I had a thought flash through my head that perhaps I should put some shorts on him, so that he wouldn't be tempted to take off his diaper, but that thought was gone as quickly as it arrived. I just knew they would be so tired that they would go right to sleep.

A couple hours later, I heard Ryan jabbering in his crib, so I went to get him up from his nap. As soon as I entered their room, my nose was filled with the familiar scent of a dirty diaper. No biggie, I thought to myself, but then I turned toward Jacob's crib. He was sitting in the far back corner, with a guilty look on his face. I started to get a sinking feeling that something was wrong. As I got closer, I saw a discarded diaper in the middle of the crib, along with some other unmentionables.

At this point, I am sure some of you are wondering why on earth I am sharing this story. The way I see it though, is that I actually had to live it, so trust me when I say, you are getting the better end of the deal.

Anyway, so the next 15 minutes were spent throwing Jacob into a super-bubbly bath, scrubbing him really good, all while he screamed and shared his discontent. And then moving on to the hazardous materials - and salvaging what I could. Thankfully, Jacob's "Lion", his beloved stuffed animal was unharmed, and only required a good bath (trip to the laundry) himself after the incident. I believe the mattress and crib sheet will survive. The only casualty we suffered was a book, sadly, one of Jacob's favorites.

Ground Zero

This is what should be on their door after the disaster I dealt with.

On the bright side, I got a call from my husband today. I shared with him all of the fun stuff he was missing out on, and asked him if we could consider it an emergency and have him flown home to help me during this time of crisis?

It was worth a shot.

Childhood Dreams

When I was growing up, I secretly dreamed of becoming a huge star someday. I just knew I would be discovered and become the next big actress/singer/dancer. Yes, I was multi-talented. I was going to be bigger than Julia Roberts, bigger than Britney Spears, (but without all the crazy drama).

I would lock myself in my bedroom or bathroom, for hours - music blaring, and I would sing along with all my favorite songs, pretending I was on a stage in front of thousands of people. Usually I sang popular songs of the time. But one day I borrowed my mom's old record player, along with her Grease album, and OMG I sang those songs for hours! I pretended my bedroom was the stage and I made up blocking and dance routines, and took on the parts of Sandy and Rizzo, (she was my favorite). Sometimes I would just use an "air" microphone, and other times I might use a flashlight as my microphone. No matter what though, I just knew I was destined for a life a fame!

Well, as you probably noticed, I did not become a bigger star than Julia Roberts, or Britney spears, (thankfully though, I also managed to avoid her crazy amounts of drama and head-shaving). Nope, I never became a famous celebrity. The closest I ever got to acting was being a part of the Edmonds Community Theater's performance of The Seven Year Itch, and even then I was on stage for a total of two minutes and only earned fifty dollars.

Don't cry for me, blog readers, no. While I may not be performing for sold-out crowds every night, I do have an audience that gets the privilege of watching me sing and dance around the kitchen at every meal time. They are captivated my vocal talent and my awesome dance moves.

Jacob: "Maybe if we don't look at her, she'll stop!"

"I have lunch all over my face and I STILL look cooler than you do, Mom."

"Mom, I will potty-train myself today if you quit with dancing and singing right now."

See? Not the least bit embarrassed.

Performing for my two little guys beats Broadway any day.

Ryan's Rebuttal

I got quite a few responses to this post. Apparently Jacob's video was a hit! I am right there with the rest of you though, I like to watch it over and over, it makes me smile.

Ryan toddled over the other day though and asked what all the fuss was about, and I explained to him that Jacob was in a video clapping and saying "Yay!" and that it was making lots of people happy. Ryan then said, "So what?", told me to grab the video camera - QUICK - then threw down his sippee cup, and this happened:



Well, maybe it happen exactly like that, but this video is pretty darn cute! I was thinking it would be fun to play Jacob's and Ryan's at the same time - if that doesn't put a smile on your face, I don't know what will!

"Mawage, the Bwessed Awangement"

I love weddings. Before I got married, they were a fun, beautiful party. Now that I have made vows to my own husband, weddings are still a fun, beautiful party, yet they hold so much more meaning. I think my favorite part is watching the bride and groom as they recite their vows, watching the facial expressions they make, and listening to the emotion in their voices as they promise their lives to one another. Every wedding is unique and so wonderful, and each an expression of that couple's style and relationship.

Last night I went to a wedding that was very special, as my family and I are good friends with both the bride and groom (and their families). It was great seeing a lot of people that I haven't been able to visit with in a long time. And you can bet I brought along my "brag book" full of pictures of the boys to show off to anyone who so much as asked how they are doing!

Like I said earlier, my favorite part is the exchanging of the vows. It always reminds me of the promises Richard and I made to each other, almost three years ago. Plus, I know what is on the other side now; I know what lies beyond the wedding day and all the wedding hoopla. While weddings are great, it's just one day that goes by way too fast. As wonderful as they can be, they don't compare to all the awesomeness that follows the wedding: living together as husband and wife, holidays with one another, babies!, watching movies together on Friday nights, brushing your teeth together before you go to bed...every day minutiae, like working in the yard together, kissing goodbye before work, asking your husband (like, a million times) if he can take out the garbage. All of these things, big and small, they make up a marriage, a life together. 


It's a beautiful thing, getting to spend every day with your best friend, for the rest of your life. That's what is important, and that is what each bride and groom have to look forward to. Sharing every high and low together and building a life and a family. Sometimes I catch myself looking back on my wedding day, and thinking maybe I would have done different flowers or had a different hairstyle, but then I stop myself, because honestly, it doesn't matter what I was wearing, where we got married, or what color the flowers were. Now that I have experienced what comes after the wedding, I see that that was just the beginning. I get to live the great stuff every day, and I look forward to fifty-plus more years of it.

Spider Man 4

Yep, you read that right. Movie producers have decided to put out a Spider Man 4 movie. When they sat down to cast the movie however, they decided that the two main stars of the previous films, Tobey Maguire and Kirsten Dunst were getting too old to play their roles, and they have since decided to fill those characters with new, younger actors. Here is the line-up:

Tobey Maguire, who played Peter Parker/Spiderman: Will be replaced by the upcoming actor Jacob MacQuarrie:


Kirsten Dunst, who played Mary Jane (or MJ):
Will be replaced by the multi-talented Ryan MacQuarrie:

Pretty sure he is going to hate me for this later

The script is still in its beginning stages, but it was also leaked that Spiderman's main nemesis in the new film with be none other the evil Caterkiller, the monster caterpillar!

Caterkiller about to destroy this 747 and all aboard

Scary stuff! This film is sure to break every movie record ever set. I know I will be there on opening night!

Teacher and Student

Jacob was only 10 months, 10 days old when he became a big brother to Ryan. For the first few months he was pretty oblivious to the newest little addition to our family; although in his defense, all Ryan pretty much did for those first few months was sleep. Jacob has really settled into his role as big brother though. He takes toys away from Ryan, he pushes him when Ryan gets in his way and he steals Ryan's sippee cup from time to time. He can be a very sweet big brother though too, I remember a time several months ago when Ryan hurt himself, and Jacob brought him his favorite stuffed animal, and he had a really concerned look on his face over why his little brother was crying. They really do get along well, and Ryan just adores his big playmate.

Brotherly Love

Now that both Jacob and Ryan can walk and are very active, Jacob has taken to teaching Ryan some skills that they both employ to keep me busy throughout the day. Jacob has taught Ryan the following things:

To climb.

To love books.
To constantly want to "go bye-bye".


And now he has taught Ryan the all-important "I didn't get my way" stomp.

Doing Said Stomp

I thought I would get a little break between the time Jacob was going through his 2-year old phase and when Ryan would enter it, but it looks like they want to do it simultaneously.

To that I say bring it on, boys, bring it on. At the end of the day, I'm still the one who decides when it's bedtime, mwa ha ha!