Play ball!

We've enjoyed almost 2 full weeks of warm weather after a LONG winter. We haven't been able to stand staying inside, so we've been playing outside a lot. Sometimes here in the backyard, occasionally a fun trip to the park, and definitely riding the Gator a lot at Nana & Popa's house. 

Uncle Harry gave Jeremiah a t-ball set for Christmas, so we've been working on J's baseball skills lately. He LOVES all kinds of sports balls...baseballs, soccer, football, basketball, doesn't matter...just give the kid a ball!

Of course when we're not outside playing, J can usually be found in the midst of a large pile of LEGO.

He speaks! And he can undress himself...

Jeremiah has finally started saying a few words. He can say "Bo" (Nana & Popa's Dog), "Popa", "Puppy", and today he brought me his tennis shoes and said "shoes". I'm really excited he's finally started to have some expressive language. Here's a cute, short video of him "calling Bo" and saying "Popa".

Evidently he's also learned to undress himself! He'd been in bed bumping around and playing for about an hour and a half when he finally he started crying. Josh went up to check on him and found him with only a diaper on! If you notice the PJs he's wearing in the video, he'd unzipped them and taken them completely off. What a little stinker!

Isn't that one mischievous face!?!?!

Silly Boy!

This was how J paraded around the house for an entire afternoon. His Uncle Perry kept him for me during that morning, so I dressed him in an outfit that I knew Perry would love (the missing pants are camo & the outfit was given to J by Perry). He also loved his boots his Uncle Harry gave him for Christmas. 

I just love this picture - he's such a silly boy!

What Jeremiah is doing at 19 months...

We're not up to much that's really blog-worthy or even all the interesting these days. Just the day-to-day routine of winter, but we can see that Spring is coming! It's still light after 6pm, daylight savings time starts next weekend, and best yet - the forecast has a few days predicted in the 60s!

So, here are some of the random/funny/cute/not-so-cute things Jeremiah is up to right now...

• You have an amazing ability to poke out your lip when you get upset. It makes me laugh more than give you sympathy, which doesn't make you too happy with me. I really want to get a picture of it soon!
• You LOVE the movie Cars. We usually watch a few minutes after 5pm when I need to get dinner going and need you to be occupied with something. We'll usually watch a few more minutes after bath and before bed if Daddy's home. You two snuggle on the couch & it just melts my heart. Then we'll tell you, "Say Goodnight to Lightening (the main character)" and you'll wave at the TV. So stinkin' cute!
• You aren't talking yet, but you sure can communicate. You understand everything we say and you can get your point across. Your babbles & jargon are starting to sound more like words. I have a feeling that one day you're just going to have a word explosion and never be quiet again.
• You are just like your Daddy when it comes to LEGO, you just love them. We have a big basket of Duplo bocks and you build, tear things down, pour them all out, kick them around the room, and build again. The building is cute, the "kicking them all over the house" is not-so-cute.
• You love to be outside, even if it's freezing cold. I'm so looking forward to warmer temps so we can go outside and you can RUN! I even picked up a few John Deere outdoor toys for you at a Consignment Sale this weekend. I'm pretty sure you're going to enjoy "helping" Daddy do some yard work with your new hedge trimmer, weed wacker, and lawn mower.
• Your best buddy is Anna Koontz (great for me since her mom is my best buddy!). I'll say, "we're going to go see Anna today" then you just smile, laugh, and run to get your shoes. She takes care of you, gets you a tissue to wipe your nose if it's running, wants you to eat with a spoon (when you just throw it on the floor), and will say "Eremiah mess!" when you make a mess (which is pretty frequent!). She doesn't say the "J" in your name, but gets the rest - pretty impressive for a 2 year old!
• You're getting closer & closer to turning TWO! Sometimes your actions show that. I keep telling myself that you're just "independent" and it's a good thing. I really just think you're stubborn, a lot like your mommy and daddy.
• Despite your occasional strongholds of independence, you are really sweet and loving. You'll run across the room to give me a hug. I just eat it up and swoop you into my arms. I know it won't be like this for long, so I'm enjoying every single squeeze.
• You don't quite understand kisses yet, except how to receive them. I'll say, "Give Mommy a kiss" and you lean your head in for me to kiss you. I'm sure you'll figure this out before your first kiss, otherwise you may leave your date really confused. 
• I'm trying really hard to instill manners in you so you'll be a polite young man. I'm pretty sure I've said "please" and "thank you" more in the last few months than I have in my whole life. Of course you aren't talking much yet, so you don't really say anything appropriately. However, when I tell you to "say please" you turn your head, smile, and flash those dimples. That's "please" enough for me right now!

Your daddy & I love you more than we could have ever imagined. You've changed our life completely, but we wouldn't want it any other way!

Mountain Trip (aka Getting snowed in during the Blizzard of 2010)

 Brenda (Nana), Jeremiah, and myself had been planning to go to the mountains for a few days in February. We had planned it so Josh and Ken (Popa) could meet us up there and spend a long weekend (President's Day). We were all very excited about this trip - meals were planned, food was bought and cooked so we wouldn't have to worry too much while we were up there relaxing. Well, in line with our extremely snowy winter, a winter storm accompanied by very high winds (sustained 60-70mph and even higher gusts) was supposed to come in the day we were supposed to leave. We decided to outrun the storm and go up the night before. 

Wow...what a SCARY trip! Everything was fine until about 4 miles from the mountain house when it started snowing (and we were really high up on a mountain with those crazy, curvy, mountain roads). We finally make it into their neighborhood, but the road we needed to go on had not been plowed. AT ALL. There was probably a foot of snow we had to drive over. Fishtailing most of the way up, we made it to the driveway (which is extremely steep). By the grace of God, there were some bare places on the side of the driveway to help us get traction as we navigated the driveway. We barely made it up, but miraculously we did, unpacked the car, and were ready to brave the storm. And boy was it a storm! A full 24-hours of snow and wind chill of ZERO. Luckily, the following day was warm enough for some melting, the road was plowed, and I even shoveled part of the driveway to make it a little easier for Josh and Ken to get up. 

But Josh and Ken never got an opportunity to come up because when we woke up on the third day of our trip, we found out we were in for more snow showers. Afraid we wouldn't be able to get out if we stayed and Josh/Ken wouldn't be able to make it up, we quickly packed up and left. I think next time we make a trip, we'll make sure there will be NO SNOW!

Here are some pictures of the pretty snow...

 

 

Some of the deer that paid us a visit.

Jeremiah had lots of fun!

He wanted to wear Popa's boots, which were waist-high on him!

Nana did a lot of quilting, so J thought he'd try out the thimble.

Here's another failed sledding attempt (this time on an aluminum cookie sheet).

Jeremiah was still not a big fan of the snow and wanted to be held...
 

But he finally became more comfortable and LOVED it!
 

My favorite part of the trip was the snuggle time I was able to get in :)

February Updates

What's been going on with us in February? 

Well, we've done a lot of hanging out inside since it's been so blessed cold. This is a pretty typical picture of Jeremiah recently...all snuggled up on the couch in between the pillows, under a blanket watching a little TV.

We did manage to make it to church once (maybe twice...not a great attendance record this month) and J looked extra cute in his sweater and khaki cords. I love when little boys are dressed like little men!

I needed a label maker and luckily Nana had an extra one for me to have. I may have gotten a little carried away...

Jeremiah was not particularly impressed.

We also went to the mountains where we got snowed in during a "blizzard" and crazy high winds, but that's for another post.

Crazy Morning Hair

It's Saturday morning, there's snow on the ground (again), and Daddy & Jeremiah have some CRAZY morning hair...but I still think they are so stinkin' cute!

Jeremiah loves the cow!

"Gigi" George sent Jeremiah a cow for Christmas. It sings, walks, and even "moos" in a mad tone when you pull its tail. When J first got it, he was a bit timid with it. Not anymore! He walks around and plays the song over and over and over again! He played it for at least 30 minutes before we went to the Children's Museum on Thursday and then immediately picked it up when he got back home.

If you know me, then probably you know that I'm not a big fan of loud toys. Many of J's toys that "need" batteries don't receive batteries because they can be obnoxious. I try to think of it as encouraging him to use his imagination, but really it's just me trying to save my sanity! Anyway, here's a little clip of Jeremiah enjoying his cow (during yet another day of us being stuck inside due to the winter weather).



Sorry the video is a bit grainy & out of focus - I forgot to turn the overhead light on...oops!

Snow Day!

We've had some winter weather come through this weekend resulting in 7-8" of snow. This is our second big snow of the year (how unusual!).  We ventured out for a little while today (yesterday was too blessed cold to leave the house) and found out that Jeremiah is just like Mommy & Daddy - not a big fan of the snow. He enjoyed a few minutes, but then was ready to come in and get warm!

So glad Mimi picked up these snow boots for Little J - much better than the Ziploc bags I made him wear last snow :)

Love, love, LOVE that little boy!

Attempting to "sled" with Daddy's help.

We decided we need to invest in a sled - the laundry basket just didn't cut it (watch the video below).

Such a cute face!

Happy Birthday G-pa!

Even though we're not with you on your birthday to celebrate, we wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday, G-pa!

I know this is not a recent picture, but it's still my favorite picture of the two of you...EVER!

We hope you & Mimi enjoy a "white birthday" together. Love you lots!