State of the Family

Eric was in Las Vegas the past week for work and he was missed by all of us. Even Stratton seemed to miss him at dinner time. He'd occasionally look at the doors and say "Dah Dah" as if looking for someone to walk in. Although he was sleep deprived from being on a plane all night, the boys couldn't get enough of him when he got home. A huge thanks to my parents for coming and keeping us company in Eric's absence. It made the time a lot more pleasant!

This idea was birthed from Stratton's love of puddles outside. He makes a beeline for any standing water after a rain fall. Both of them really enjoyed the tub of water in our playroom and a few towels and change of clothes later, it was all cleaned up!

Dawson volunteered to "read" this train book to Stratton. Trains are definitely one of Stratton's current obsession - books being the other one - so this was an offer well received.
Stratton's vocabulary is exploding these days. He'll try to say several new things each day - "pasta", "tree" - tonight he even named each person in our family, including himself.

I've recently been on a kick to get more and different birds for our viewing. I invested in this stick-on feeder to go on the window in our sunroom/playroom. It took a few days, but the birds have found it and seem to be willing to come up close - it's a lot of fun.

A few more...

I just really liked this picture. Dawson got to go ice sakting for the first time when we were in Stillwater - Aaron and Eric got quite a workout trying to keep him on his feet, but he had a blast.

Dawson created his own car ramp by turning the table on it's side. Stratton, of course, had to try it out for himself, too.

Christmas in OK

These are in no particular order (well, no order that I can control, that is!) Captions are above the pictures...

Look at those smiles.
Stratton and Papa Chop reading a book.

Trying to capture the Terry Bradshaw-esque look that Stratton has perfected.
THe boys dressed up from church. Stratton looked at his vest and excitedly started spouting, "T -T - T" which is his word for train.

Dawson sporting some new OSU gear.The snow gave a great reason for JR to get out his tractor and clear the street and driveway.
Checkin out the Christmas tree.
We flew in to Wichita and got to Stillwater just in time to watch a good winter blizzard roll in. A great thing to watch while inside with plenty of food and a hot cup of tea...S
Uncle Aaron with Stratts.
Stratton likes all things soft. Here he hugs a plush bear. Hugging is a full body activity.

Christmas in VA

The boys in front of our new embroidered stockings. We had our own "Christmas morning" the day after our big snowstorm. We pretty much couldn't go anywhere anyway, so the timing worked out well!
We learned our lesson from last year's snow and shoveled our driveway before it turned to ice...Dawson was actually a big help!Stratton in a rare cuddly moment! Check out the hair...
This is a more "natural" moment.

December 10 - Stratton turns one!

Stratton's birthday was pretty much a normal Thursday, and our activities are chronicled below. But we did have some cake after dinner!

The birthday boy was incredibly tired by the time dinner happened, so right after these pics, he completely fell apart and went straight to bed. : )


Daddy coming home is always a highlight of the day.
Some outside playtime in the freezing cold.
A playdate with our friends, the Farkas' who have two boys the same age as ours. This is a dance party the boys had after lunch.

Putting the "Jolly" in Jolly Jumper

This little guy was having so much fun in the jumper yesterday. This is pretty much Stratton in a nutshell right now - how wonderful to have a happy baby! The trick was how to hold the camera still while making excited faces and egging him on. (Thanks again, Nan, for the hand-me-down jumper!)

Due to Technical Difficulties

I’ve been on here at least 10 times recently to try to update the blog, but everytime I open iPhoto, the program gets hung and I give up in frustration. I find technology very annoying when it doesn’t meet my expectations for speed and responsiveness…It has probably raised my blood pressure more than a few points recently!

Had I been able to upload pictures, I would have told you about

- the fun visit with Mimi and Aunt Heidi that we had recently. The effects of your visit are still fresh as evidenced by Dawson just yesterday. After dinner he grabbed his toy “laptop” and hopped up on the couch to play some games. After he sat there for a minute, he said, “Hey, I’m like Aunt Heidi” (Heidi spent some quality time with her laptop on our couch during the visit – apparently little eyes were watching!)
- the haircut I gave Dawson today. It was the first time I’ve used electric clippers to help trim and I was breathing a sigh of relief that I’d actually give him a decent haircut and not nicked or in any other way scarred him psychologically from the experience. As I was cleaning up I hear Dawson say, “Look, Mommy, I’m doing a haircut!” And sure enough, he had the scissors straight over his forehead and before I could speak a large chunk of hair fell to the ground. It’s somewhat noticeable, but somewhat an underneath layer, so I can sort of hide it. Could have been much worse, but so much for a successful haircut! (I guess this is payback for the time I cut Frances’ (the cat) hair in the living room when I was two.)
- and last but not least a few sweet Mothers’ Day pictures with me and the boys

maybe they’ll be on here one day!