And Every Knee Shall Bow

We had a funny day yesterday. So funny that Mommy was in hysterics with laughter. We're talking can't talk, can't breathe, watery eyes kind of hysterical laughter. Two separate incidents but both certainly noteworthy.

The first incident is funny but Mommy had to hold it together at first. You see, my brother Jonah is going potty like a big boy (still working on the poopy part). Yesterday, he went to go potty like a good boy and went to stand at the toilet. He had his socks on and wouldn't ya know it, he slipped. Yep. My brother did a face plant right into the toilet. He is fine and cried for a few seconds. He also has a small bruise on the forehead but all is well.

Then Mommy got a call from Grandpa. He called to announce that the cat had stolen Jesus. Yep. Jesus from their Nativity scene was catnapped. The cat culprit hid Jesus and my parents were literally on their hands and knees looking for Jesus. My uncle Joe got involved in the search and was lifting up the couches and furniture. Sure enough, Jesus was found. But not before the cat took off with the Angel.

Mommy thought this second incident was hilarious. She kept thinking that what if the cat had swallowed Jesus? How would you explain that to the vet? ...."Um, hello Mr. Vet. Can you help us save Jesus?"...or...."Mr. Vet, will the cat pass Jesus?" She kept thinking over all the different scenarios and potential discussions that would happen with the vet if the cat had eaten the small statuette and it just made her giggle. A lot.

But what was even funnier was her friend Karin's comment (thus the title of this post)
about the search for the catnapped Jesus:
God has an awesome sense of humor!
brings to mind the verse "and every knee shall bow..."

Thanks Karin. We love you!

December Pictures

Here are some pictures from what we have been doing this past month. So sorry for the delay. But as you'll see, we've been pretty busy. So busy that Mommy hasn't had time to download photos so here it all is...in one BIG post.

It never fails. Daddy is about to head out of town, so something has to break. "What a sexy plumber"...Mommy says! (I say, "eeeeww!")
Clogging anyone? I love walking around in Mommy's garden clogs.
Blurry but very cute picture of Jonah dancing (DANCING!) in the Santa hat.
I'm so cute. Mommy just loves me so!

The best photo of the season for Jonah!
This is NOT my best photo of the season.
Kitties have found their Christmas spirit too. Right under the tree!
Our tree is definitely designed for toddlers. No fantastic designs this year. Just very PRACTICAL!
Jonah hamming it up for Mommy.
Jonah loves animals. It's not uncommon to find him curled up with the puppies or kitties.
He likes to cover them up like babies for 'night-night' and then sings to them. SO cute!
We also love to climb into Mommy and Daddy's bed.
It's extra comfy. Especially when we kick them OUT!
This is the boxes that Mommy filled with cookies and other goodies for my teachers and bus drivers. Yummy. Our house smelled REALLY good for a couple of days.
Grandma B gave us the idea for a Reindeer mix for my fellow classmates. It has oats and red sparkles in it to help Rudolph find their houses.

Jonah and I have really gotten into wrestling/rough play. Mommy has to monitor pretty closely.
But then Daddy gets involved. As you can see, we where very happy to have him home tonight.
Add in some puppies and its chaos. Thus, the blurry picture.

WELCOME HOME DADDY

Daddy is here, Daddy is here,
Daddy is HERE!!!!

All went well for his deployment start that sent him to California for seminars, training, physical, and lots of paperwork. Daddy is officially full-time Navy for the next 400 days and he heads out to Whidbey on Monday. Phew. Glad all went well this time.

Welcome HOME Daddy!
We love you and are very proud of you.

Toddler's Creed

Toddler's Creed

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The "Toddler's Creed" appeared in the syndicated weekly newspaper article "Families Today" by T. Berry Brazelton. It is a nice reminder of the stresses we feel with normal behavior of toddlers. Enjoy.

If I want it, it's mine.
If I give it to you and change my mind later, it's mine.
If I can take it away from you, it's mine.
If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.
If it's mine, it will never belong to anybody else, no matter what.
If we are building something together, all the pieces are mine.
If it looks just like mine, it is mine.

Daddy is Off.

Daddy took off yesterday and is gone for the week. He'll be home Friday (or possibly Saturday) but is reading his email, facebook, and this blog. He called last night and his trip to California was uneventful and with long lay-overs. But he made it safely.

We've been keeping Mommy busy today. I don't have school because the roads are FROZEN here. WE had freezing rain last night which has left everything covered in ice. The house and cars each have a 1/2 inch of ice covering them. So Jonah and I are doing our best to play nicely but we've had a few moments today that have involved some Mommy intervention. She has been busy baking and washing laundry today. The cookies smell YUMMY but they are for my teachers. Hmm. We are trying our best to sneak one past her when she has her back turned.

Mommy is hoping for a nap after a very difficult night. Both Jonah and I ended up in bed with Mommy (uninvited) so she is a little sore and tired from sharing a bed with us boys. We are a little grumpy too so a nap will do us all some good.

We love and miss you Daddy. We'll write you another note very, very soon.

And the Navy says...

Daddy was ordered to go to a doctors appointment on Friday. While he was there, he was going to put in whole day of work and then return to his job as a Corrections Deputy on Saturday. This was the plan as we have been waiting for a paper work mix-up that has delayed Daddy's year-long deployment that was supposed to start last month.

Daddy showed up to the base on Friday as ordered for the medical appointment and what does he learn...that his orders came through, paperwork is cleared, and he is flying out ASAP. So much for the warning, huh? So Daddy is flying out to California tomorrow and this marks the official start to his 400 day deployment. He will return on Friday and then goes to work for the Navy full-time on Monday. He will be stationed at his regular base which is a bit of a commute but we can deal with that.

So there you go....Daddy, have a good (if not slightly hurried) trip. We love you. Thank you Corrections Department about being SO SO SO completely understanding about the very limited notice.

Picture of the Day!

Just one question...
HOW CUTE IS THIS?!?

Mommy loves when brother and I get along so well. She actually took this picture a while ago but forgot to post it. She was looking through pictures and found it so better late than never, huh?

More Idaho Pictures

Here are more pictures from Idaho. Enjoy! Here I am getting ready to go on the plane!
Jonah wasn't cooperating before his first plane trip so here is Mommy giving him loves.
But on the plane trip over to Idaho, you can see he was very excited!

Here I am with Uncle Joe. As you can guess, this is also from our trip to Idaho. There were NO pictures taken on the way back. Did Mommy mention the plane trip back was NOT as peaceful as this?
IDAHO! In the van and all strapped in! Cousins here we are!
Jonah, Me and Cousin Shiloh going to their house!
HEY! Did you know they have McDonalds in Idaho?!?
Woo HOO!

Oh! Mommy forgot to mention that I got yet ANOTHER ear infection while in Boise (which also explained some of my behavior on the trip). Fortunately, we have such a long standing history with our doctors office in Washington State, that when Mommy called, they took her word for it and faxed over a prescription to a local pharmacy in Idaho. Normally, doctors won't do that because they want to see you but since they know me and Mommy...I guess there are some advantages to being a frequent visitor to a particular medical office. Ear infection is better but Mommy's gonna have to call Childrens to get me scheduled to see my doctors down there. Looks like that second set of tubes is going to come fairly soon.

Our New Cousin

So first, before we start to describe our trip to Idaho, Mommy needs to make an apology. Mommy had promised her friend, Sarah, that she would call while in Idaho so we could arrange a visit. Unfortunately, things were really hectic and us kiddos were NOT on our best behavior (to be explained a little further below) so Mommy did not make the call. We love you Sarah and family. We really do apologize for not calling.

So our trip was an adventure. We were very excited to see our Uncle Casey, Uncle Joe, Auntie Kelly, Cousin Shiloh, and brand new cousin Colton. It was Jonah's very first plane trip and our trip to Idaho was actually pretty good. We sat quietly on the plane while we made the trip from Seattle to Idaho and displayed what would be exemplary behavior. Getting to and from the plane...well, that's another story. Yep. While we may have been perfect little gentlemen on the plane, in the airport security lines, the waiting areas, the corridors, and anywhere else we had to move through, we were total terrors. Mommy started calling us 'little monsters on four legs' because we were awful. But then we finally got to Idaho and locked into Auntie Kelly and Uncle Casey's van so that we finished our journey with great effort, but much excitement, since we were now in Idaho and got to meet baby Colton and see our family. Phew.

Baby Colton is an amazing little baby. He is a very healthy little eater and loves to be held. He also showed us up by sleeping for 4-5 hours at a time through the night. We boys...not so much. In fact, Mommy averaged about 4 hours of sleep a night while in Idaho because us boys would simply not cooperate. Thank goodness Uncle Joe is AWESOME and would sometimes help Mommy out in the morning so she could sleep a little before she got moving. The sleep deprivation along with what culminated to be our worst behavior...EVER....really challenged Mommy. Again. THANK YOU Uncle Joe. You are simply the coolest Uncle to walk the face of the planet. Mommy (and us boys) love you lots.

So although Mommy seems to be complaining lots, the trip overall was nice. We got to see our family who we miss so much. Jonah and I loved playing with our cousin Shiloh and all the adults had to monitor me pretty closely when I was around baby Colton. I love him so much, I kept kissing, and kissing, and kissing him....and kissing, and kissing, and kissing....yep, I love my cousin Colton.

The trip home was sad for Mommy because she loved seeing her sister and was sad to leave her. It was made worse by what had to have been one of the more trying parenting experiences Mommy has ever had with us boys despite some of the most spectacular travel pre-planning a parent can ever perform for a plane trip. Uncle Joe was with us on the plane and he can attest that we were terrible. TERRIBLE! You know its pretty bad when the stewardesses are giving you extra special attention, you are pre-warned of turbulance so you have extra time to strap your kid down, AND you are apologizing to EVERY person on the plane for the screaming, kicking, and items thrown at random heads. Not only are you apologizing, but so are the stewardesses on your behalf. Fortunately, these stewardesses really were spectacular and understanding which really did help. We also had a couple of people that sat behind us that were very encouraging to Mommy. That is something to be grateful for.

Thanks again Auntie Kelly, Cousin Shiloh, Uncle Joe, Uncle Casey and Cousin Colton. We loved seeing you despite some very challenging behavior. You are awesome. Here are some pictures from our trip:


This is Cousin Shiloh. She loves to pose for the camera. We can't believe how big she is getting!
Here is the blow-up bed that Jonah and I slept on. Oh...yes that is me trying to climb into the crip. Ugh!
How cute is this?!? Uncle Casey with his brand new son, Colton (aka Cole).
The little man. Colton (Cole) John is a beautiful baby!

Mommy trying desperately to keep us kids entertained so Auntie Kelly and Uncle Casey could get some much needed rest. Auntie Kelly was so great...she had surgery and was just an amazing patient!
Here is Uncle Joe. Awesome Uncle Joe.
Cousin Shiloh loves dress-up! She and Mommy also made cool flower barrets for her classmates hair. It was lots of fun!
Here is one last picture of baby Cole. Aaah.