Sorry, Big Daddy . . .

but it looks like whatever "financial" genes that have been floating around in the Wilson chromosomal pool for centuries have just been completely diluted. But who can blame the kid with all those red arrows- it tough for anyone to watch!

"...And This Bird You Can Not 'Cage'..."

Miller has apparently developed an aversion to bars. She has begun crying every time you put her down in her bed and doesn't stay asleep for very long. One night I went up and when she couldn't get settled I just laid her down with me on the down mattress topper, perma-pallet I have set up in her room to camp out on for when I have to go up in the middle of the night and decide I'm too tired to safely take on the decent back down the stairs. She slept there until almost 8 o'clock the next morning (she's usually up around 5). So, when it came time to take her morning nap, I put her back down on the pallet. She slept for 3 hours. I had to wake her up later from her afternoon nap when we were nearing the 2 hour mark and we had places to go! The next day she repeated the same thing. So, I stole the extra mattress pad and a twin bottom sheet from Wilson and this is now apparently her new resting place. FREE BIRD!

The next best thing to a treehouse . . .

Lately, every afternoon at about 4:00 my bed becomes a pirate ship. My picnic basket is filled with old Beanie Babies and stuffed animals and becomes a deckful of swabbies. My paint stirrers become swords. My empty toilet paper tubes become telescopes. ANYTHING stationery in our house becomes an evil pirate. Apparently today the pirates all went running into my dryer. I was on the phone with my sis-in-law and heard a bunch of commotion in the laundry room. I went in to find Wilson hanging out in the dryer. I told him he had to stay for a second so I could take his picture but then he had to get out. Jack, hearing all the fun coming from the laundry room, came running to make sure his number one hiding spot was still secure. When he found his arch nemesis (our first born, two-legged child) in there he decided it was more than he could take. He'd risk getting cooties from touching said child to regain his territory. As he jumped in, he got a whack on the snout with the neon hot wheels that Captain Wilson was currently wielding. I wish we could figure out why they don't get along better?! Curiouser & curiouser. Anyway, when I told Wilson to get out he asked the most profound of all three-year-old questions. "Why?" "Well, what if I didn't know you were in there and turned it on!? Would that be very fun?" He looked at me and grinned. I told him that the correct answer was NO, that, in fact, it would not be fun.

(And "yes", to all you Sherlocks out there who noticed I said the pirate parade begins at 4:00pm and these photos show Wilson in his jammies, he was still in the flannel winter pajamas when I posted at 2:30 this afternoon and he stayed in them until about 30minutes before we ate supper tonight. He changed then because he spilt water down his shirt and hates even mildly damp clothes. Does anyone know if they're looking for a new assistant for Mr. Monk- I think I pretty much understand the job description.)

And for one more laugh before I go to bed- Wilson, Phil, and I were watching a movie tonight and Wilson started climbing over Phil to get to me and chose, as usual, to go the shortest route, not the most polite or comfortable. This particular route involved Wilson's knee digging into Phil's shin. I explained to Wilson that Dad's shins hurt when they get hit just like his do and that he needed to be careful climbing on people.

"Oh, sorry, Mom."
"Tell Dad, not me!"
"Hey, Dad, not her."

Thank you and good night- he'll be here all week!

The Cutest Little Town in Carburetor County

Here's what Wilson and I have been doing today . . .
He pulled out this book and noticed the "track" on the cover. Mom I want to build that track. Oh. Good. A completely over complicated and precarious car track built out things that we actually have in our house so there's no good reason I can come up with for us to not try it. (Except that you'll attempt to play with it once, it will all fall down, and you'll scream) Okay, Wilson, I'll get your box of blocks, you bring down your train tracks.

This is the town we came up with

Flo's V8 cafe- note the V on top

Mini Sally at the Cozy Cone Motel

Luigi and Guido at the Casa De La Tires (and roundhouse)

Guido is fixing a train car under the careful supervision of Luigi

Mater's shack and Chuki's (the Japanese reporter's) chic flat

Red (and wanna be Red) at the fire station complete with statue of Stanley

Sheriff's police station

Doc came to visit and split into multiple personalities (regular Doc, McDonald's Happy Meal & completely out of scale Doc, and pit crew Doc) Also pictured are a police car, policeman action figure, and a chimney sweep action figure- have I mentioned I finally got a chimney sweep to come- no more squirrels, yea!! (and a free chimney sweep toy straight off the last barge of lead paint filled toys from Hong Kong) We're super excited.

The "El"

The zoo and zoo keeper- we feature habitats as close to those found in nature as possible for all our animals

Exhibit A of natural habitats- the monkey cage

The "Ice Area" of the zoo- home to the polar bear and Yettie Truck

And last, but not least, a home for the many faces of Lightning

("Sparkly, Dirt Track, and Regular")

In case you're wondering, I have no make up on, Wilson's still in his pajamas, it's 2:30 and we haven't eaten lunch, and I've responded to two screams of "it fell, it fell" twice during this post. Miller's taking a nap now, but she was surprisingly entertained with our construction while she sat in her swing and gnawed on a snail teething ring.

Wup . . . Make that three screams . . .

6 months!

Everybody says it, but I'm going to repeat it anyway . . . I can't believe she's already 6 months old- where has the time gone?! It really seems like we just brought her home. She still seems new and I still don't really feel like I know her yet. I guess that is the challenge of parenting any children after the first. I didn't ever think about the fact that I'd still be a first time parent after I had my second child. I think I thought I'd be able to pay attention more to the baby stuff because it wouldn't be so new and I wouldn't be worried about doing everything right, but instead it's just been a blurr in the background as I've tried to make sure everyone is somewhat clean and fed occasionally. The truth is, we're still learning the ropes of parenthood and poor Wilson has to be the guinea pig as we go along. And while we're old hat at bottles, diapers, paci's, and onesies we're still fresh off the showroom floor on preschool, persnicketyness, snarkiness, making new friends, and raising a child in general. Even when he's 18 and we're sending him off to college, we'll still be first time parents. I'll wonder if we bought enough socks and sheets at WalMart and worry about whether he'll be able to find his way around okay. Will I even notice that Miller has finished junior high? Somehow I don't think she'll let me miss it. I just hope I can learn to pay more attention the moments in between the milestones. As for now, they both still smile when they see me, so maybe I haven't made them completely crazy yet- or maybe they're just humoring me.

The pictures above are from this morning. She wasn't exactly Miss Personality while I videoed her, so I decided to add the photos of when she started playing after the camera was off. After the 6 month video (and, yes, I'm 4 days late making it!) is one of her playing her favorite game . . .

someone needs to teach her that when hiding, it's generally a good idea not to squeal and kick your feet- it's a dead give away

Scrapbook- Summer Time Firsts

His Popularity Continues

Well, for those of you not keeping track, Jack's YouTube hits are near 1000 and his popularity is only gaining. He is now the only known being that can get a REAL laugh out of Miller. She'll give me or her Daddy a good "huh" with a smile every now and then, and she'll laugh a little at Wilson if I chase him with her in my arms, but to get a good rolling laugh, the dog is required. He went in her room this afternoon when she woke up from her nap and she just sat on the floor and laughed at him for existing- he wasn't even doing anything. So, since I'm assuming all reading this are of the non-canine variety, you probably have never heard a good laugh from her and will probably enjoy video proof that she can be entertained . . .

Never Get Tired of These Faces!

Community Group

The Mario Cart tournament, lawn mower tug of war, and fellowship were a blast. Thanks for coming over, guys!!

Our Best Dad!

Happy Father's Day, Daddy!!

(Again, I'm a little late posting!)

The Greatest Teething Ring Ever . . .

Here is Miller, enjoying her new jumpy chair. I can't seem to ever catch her on camera, but her favorite thing to do in it is to lean her back, like in the picture above, and gnaw on the strap behind her head. We have other toys for this express purpose, but apparently THIS is what strikes her fancy. She does have one tooth (I guess that's what it is!) coming through on the side of her mouth sort of at the bottom of her gum- sort of a little spike. It also looks like the bottom two are about to make an appearance.

Another Before and After

This post is much over due, we actually completed the work on this room in mid May. This was probably the least labor intensive makeover a room in this house will receive. The only things we did were remove the old carpet, stain the concrete underneath, and rearrange some furniture. And the latest updated room in the new house is . . . . MY STUDIO! I'm so excited to have a place to work on projects and be able to stop in the middle and not have to clean up so we can use our kitchen table for dinner or our dining room table for guests. It's really great to have a dedicated space for all my junk, and all my junk to be within my reach (instead of on the top shelf of the laundry room like it was in the old house where painting/crafting involved me jumping on top of the washing machine to pull supplies down on my head!) Wilson has also enjoyed being able to work at the table while I work on the computer and we've both enjoyed having a spot that's big enough for us sit side by side and do things together. (Jack is also enjoying his little corner where his bed and his basket with food/water bowls and toys are). Without further ado . . .

Before:

After:

Of special interest in the above pictures is my new easel. It was a gift from my sweet husband for our 6th anniversary this year. Thank you, thank you and happy 6 years, babe!!