I'm 3 months old!

Hi, everybody!  It's me, Reesie Pooh, and I just turned 3 months old.  Life this side of the womb has been treating me pretty well.  This lady with the big smile holds me all the time and smiles at me.  This man that looks like somebody I've seen before always tells me how much he loves me.  And these kids...I think their last name is Reese, they are always kissing on me and trying to hold me.  This little fellow named Emmanuel is quite interesting to me.  One minute he wants to hold me and love on me, and the next minute he's trying to play with all my stuff and move me away from the lady with the big smile.  In fact, when the lady with the big smile tries to take a picture of me....he always gets in the way.  

She was able to take a few pictures of me for my "3 month photo shoot" ...but of course, I was not alone.  The little fellow kept jumping on top of me and trying to hold me.  He is a funny little fellow.  I'm always laughing out loud at him.

I hope you enjoy the pictures of me and the funny little fellow.  

 Emmanuel is trying to tickle me.

Now he's trying to kiss me...

This is our "nonchalant" pose...

Mama made me laugh.

Mama made us both laugh at the same time (she says this is very hard to do).

We're still laughing...

The funny little fellow has his arm around me again...

Most of our pictures end up with me falling down...

or with both of our eyes closed...

I think I'm starting to like these people around me...they hold me and kiss me, sing to me, and give me nice warm baths...and even though they talk about how chubby I am and Emmanuel tries to jump on my head, I think I'm gonna like this life!

I like pork, mama!

I have a confession to make. 

I like pork.   I know (gasp)...how could I?  

It is no secret that I'm real intentional about what my kids eat.  I try to make homemade meals for us most days of the week...which has become quite the challenge with an infant and a toddler.  I want my boys to not only love eating all types of food (which, so far, Emmanuel loves lots of different types of ethnic foods), but I want them to enjoy preparing meals as well.

A few weeks ago, I found this beautiful pork loin on sale.  So, I prepared it pretty simply with some carmelized apples on top.  

Initially, I didn't give Emmanuel any pork because I cooked it to right at medium...and wanted to make sure it was "done enough" before he ate it.  Well, he saw that it was pork...took a piece off my plate...and immediately said, "More, pork, mama."  I said, "E, are you sure?"  He replied, "I like pork, mama."  He gobbled it up and went back for seconds and thirds.  Now, clearly I know that my son loves pork...any kind of pork...bacon, boston butt, shoulder...it doesn't matter how it's prepared...on the bone, pulled off the bone, roasted, slow-cooked, barbecued, but I am still amazed at how adamant he was about eating more pork.  He loves pork...and well, his love of the pig has made me work harder to find creative ways to prepare the lovely swine (we just try really hard not to eat it around Big James who is NOT a fan of pork!)    

Lately, we've enjoyed exploring Nashville in all its glory.  

Here are the kids in my "sit and stand mom-mobile" after feeding the ducks at Centennial Park.  It is a beautiful park. 

Emmanuel enjoyed painting at The Frist Center for Visual Arts.  

And, we love hanging out at the Nature Center that's down the street from our house.    Emmanuel and I got to eat right out of the garden, which was quite the treat for both of us, and he got to see some pretty cool animals, too. 

We're trying out a couple of different Moms groups in the area.  One group toured a local firestation, and well, how could we possibly resist that?

The jaws of life was about the same size as Emmanuel.

Emmanuel channeling his inner Bobby Flay...

Reese is always along for the ride even though he hates riding in the car (somehow this is getting worse instead of better for him.)

And, although Reese is not a fan of riding in the car...he has one thing down perfectly:  If they both fall asleep in the car, Reese will wait until I put Emmanuel in his bed to wake up.  And when he wakes up, he's ready to go...he talks and smiles and laughs out loud!  He may be too young to like pork like Emmanuel, but he does like his alone time with mama.

I am still figuring out how to balance these two little boys.  I think that overall Emmanuel has adjusted well to his baby brother...but he is two years old, and he loves his own time with his mama.  Eli is also working about 10 hours a day and taking two classes, which means our time as a family is slim.  We had to be intentional before, but now we have to pull our out calendars to make sure we get time together as a family of four.

Most days I am thankful to have survived...and at the end of the day when everyone is fed, cleaned, and fast asleep...I am still hurrying around washing clothes and ironing or planning meals or vacuuming...there is always something to do in preparation for the next day.

People usually say, "Take it one day at a time."  LOL.  Each of my days, as with a lot of moms with two so close in age, are packed to capacity.  (And, well, it definitely hurts the situation that I am sooo type A.)  If I focus on the day as a whole, I will wake up overwhelmed, stressed, and without a right focus.  (I almost passed out two weeks ago because I was "taking it one day at a time.")  So, I am taking it one "moment at a time."  I am focusing on the task that is before me and trying with all of my might to appreciate the moments that God has given me with my children.  When that moment is finished and conquered...even if it involved a screaming baby, a whiny toddler, and being up to my neck in little people poop, I move on...to the next moment.

I am so amazed at the amount of patience that God has for me, His child...so amazed at His unconditional love for me, His child...so thankful for the moments that He gives to me....like the moment when Emmanuel said, "I like pork, mama."

What an awesome Heavenly Father...  

Smiling and Talking

Here's the deal about Reese.  He likes to talk...and boy, is he loud!  When we were in the hospital about 18 hours after he was born, he let out a big sound...that sounded like "Mom."  Eli and I just looked at each other...and started laughing.  Well, later that afternoon, he let out some more sounds, and my cousin said, "Hmmm...is he already talking back....he's too young for all of that!"  He is a talker...and he must get that from his dad's side!  

As promised, I attempted to get pictures of Reesie Pooh with his cheesy grin.  Here is a picture recap of my attempts...

  

I would love to write more...but, man, I am exhausted. Enjoy the video of Reese "talking back" at 10 weeks.

Trucks, Trains, and Motorcycles...

Emmanuel loves any form of transportation.  I mean, quite frankly, he is obsessed with transportation.

1.  Big trucks...dumptrucks, forklifts, cement mixers...you name it!  Since we live in a neighborhood of newly constructed homes, we wake up to the sound of big trucks almost everyday.  And when we walk around our neighborhood, I let Emmanuel take the camera and take pictures of his big trucks.  When he sees the men working on houses or riding in the big trucks, he says, "Bob the Builder...Bob the Builder."  

2.  Trains...I have said before that Nashville should be called the "City of Trains" since there are so many trains that run through the city.  There happens to be a train that runs through our neighborhood...(we'll talk about resale value later)...and our community park is called "The Red Caboose Park" and yes, it even had a red caboose on site.  He has been up close and personal with a lot of trains. 

3.  And his most recent fascination:  motorcycles.  He has a motorcycle toy that he takes almost everywhere (I mean, assuming he has room in the bag with his trains and trucks).

He even got to "play" on my Cousin Waymond's motorcycle...

Check out this face! 

Our latest project has been painting and assembling toy trains.  Most kids that I know have a train set that features Thomas the Train...but I've got some serious issues with Thomas (I know he's so cute and everybody's favorite, but I have some sound reasons for this)...so instead of buying a train set that was already assembled, I thought it would be really cool if Emmanuel made it himself. So, we went to the local craft store and bought some train kits that were on sale, and he started to paint.  

and paint....
We let the pieces dry (this is a shot of the caboose)...

and we put all the pieces together to make a train! 

Emmanuel was so proud of his creation.  He's made 6 so far, and we have one more to go.  It's not nearly as nice as a store-bought train kit...I mean it's not painted perfectly and I have to re-glue the parts when he's too rough with them...but he just beams when he plays with his trains.  

He told his cousins, "I made them myself" and smiled real big.  

I am so thankful that he took ownership of his project and is so proud of what he has accomplished.  It doesn't get much better than that.  

All aboard...