Getting Comfortable . . . and Moving On

These last few weeks have been wonderful, trying, exciting, and sad all rolled into one. Needless to say, our family has mixed feelings as we get ready to move to Minneapolis. Abe is getting bigger and decides, on some occasions, to sleep for 8 hours or more in a stretch. He's also getting more exciting as he smiles and coos more, responds more to Jed, and is figuring out that moving his hands can do all kinds of cool stuff . . . like get them in his mouth or move toys on his swing. Jed is quite a funny kid and yet quite a challenge. He throws at least one all-out fit a day, even though he has never gotten anything he wants from throwing the fits. I'm praying that things will change when all his eye-teeth come in. Can't imagine that having 4 teeth coming in at once would lend to a chipper and optimistic mood. Still, we get many glimpses of the joyful Jed and live them up when they appear. He still loves his music and the park and library. He has discovered the joy of the 'Knuffle Bunny' books as well as Veggie Tales sing-a-longs -- much to his parents' delight!

We've been trying to spend some down-time and not get carried away with preparations to the point of missing out on the good times with the boys. To start off the picture section, here we are just enjoying being together:

Probably singing to 'Bady Abe'
Abe can make the funniest faces when he's asleep!
Jed loves to hold Abe every chance he gets . . . Abe isn't so sure about the arrangement.



Easter came and went without any pictures. We were a little busy that day! We left for church around 6:15, went to 7am service and then headed home to cook breakfast. We had at least 14 people to our house for brunch. After a much-needed nap, we decided to cash in some gift cards and have a family dinner at Applebees. It was fun, but even a 1-to-1 ratio of parents to children is hard at a restaurant when they are this age!

Since we missed out on the traditional Easter Egg hunt, Grandma Lee sent a special package that we just got to open last week. We have been waiting for the weather to cooperate -- the flooding is so bad around here that the amphitheater in the park has water up on the stage. Finally, we've had a few nice days and we invited over Jed's friend, Elliot, because we figured it would be more fun to hunt with a buddy. I also raided Jed's other Easter baskets so they both had plenty to find. Jed really does love to share!

His first find!
Hugs after all the hard work.
Elliot: "Look at all the candy we found!"
Jed: "You're really going to make me hold her hand for a picture?"
Fun With Jed!

I mentioned that Jed is a lot of fun -- and funny. Here are some of the latest escapades.

Trying on Daddy's shaving cream. We will often find him using something that only slightly resembles a razor -- like a spoon and rubbing it up and down his cheeks saying 'shaving!' This gets even better when there is yogurt or oatmeal on the spoon. Thanks, Daddy!
Jed's first deadly weapon. Daddy made a blowgun that shoots wooden kabob sticks at least 1 inch into a phone book. How kind of him to show our not-yet-2-year-old son how to shoot it. Thankfully, Jed doesn't have very good breath support yet.
Jed's first belt and buckle! Just like Daddy, again. . . are we noticing a trend?
This belt came from our dear friend, Barb Metzger, who also has 2 boys (though I guess I should say men, now). Their names are Joshua and Jedidiah. She sent these belts that were her boys' to Jed and his cousin, Joshua, when they were born.

Jed loves playing with blocks and often calls out from his room "Play blocks, Mommy!" So, I made him a very state-of-the-art house (without a roof). He decided it would be a good idea to try to fit in the house . . . oops!

Another of his new favorites is Dr. Seuss. He loves the book -- and now the movie -- 'Green Eggs and Ham'. Daddy decided he would make Jed some green eggs and ham for breakfast the other morning. Jed liked the idea, but the dish itself? Not such a hit . . .
As you can see by the expression . . .

The Faces of Abe

Some of you have asked for new pictures since, obviously, Abe is growing faster than we can keep up. As a second child, I am quite aware that there are not as many pictures of the second child as there are of the first -- yes, in my case this could be partially because I had colic and cried for the first 8 months. Still, I am finding out from the other side of things, that even if the baby is an easier one, it's still harder to get the camera out when you're dealing with two of them. Still, I've gotten a few shots away. Here are some of my favorite faces of Abe.

Hope they make you smile as much as they make us smile. And this will most definitely be the last blog before the big move. I just wanted to let you all know that we're still thinking about you and looking forward to sharing the boys with you all in person soon!