Went to bed at midnight last night cramming (but enjoying) for my bible study this morning. Also, last night, tried to pick out my clothes to cut down on morning hassle when that annoying voice comes…wear something that makes me look like I have it together… What does that outfit even look like?

Woke up to a cacophony of two tired coughing cranky kids. So, I chose the above shirt for today which says, “Dirty Jobs. Life gets you dirty, Jesus cleans you up.” It’s from a junior high retreat two years ago. I also have a pink shirt that says, “Got Beauty?” with Psalm 31:30 on the back. (Also from a junior high retreat. Amazing the life lessons that come from those years.) Sadly, two kids later,  that one doesn’t fit anymore. And if annoying voice even tries to say, maybe time to lose some weight, it can go to hell.

Aunt Hannah was sweet to put these rubber balls for the boys in with a package for my birthday. Thank you! I was going to just send the video clip to her privately, but Kaelem’s impromptu kiss made me smile and thought the wide world would like it too. Crazy thing is, the balls corresponded with their outfits that they were actually wearing that day. Also, isn’t it crazy that Quincy can sit up next to big brother like that!?

By the way, Kaelem is wearing some pajama pants I made from a 15 minute jammy pants tutorial at Handmade Mommy. It took me a good deal longer than 15 minutes, but they’re done! And seams fully finished, I will add. The shirt was an experiment that he finally came around to liking. So now he has another set of pajamas to change in and out of during the day and night.

Actually, it’s just cold peas pureed. You should know that I have a pea aversion. Ick… never have liked those things. I’ve tried several different methods and tried to hide them in numerous casseroles and still…ick. The most tolerable way I’ve found so far though for frozen peas (don’t even think about canned peas), is heated on the stove in olive oil with fresh chopped basil. Quincy didn’t seem to have a problem though, so I guess he has some of his dad in him after all.  Not that Jed eats a ton of peas. Anyway, I thought he was cute so here’s some pictures.

This time last year I was stuck at home for two weekends of February with a sick toddler and pregnant while Jed left town for the annual students winter retreats. To make it easier on parents, the two trips (junior high and senior high) were scheduled for the same weekend this year. While I am normally am involved in senior high on Wednesday nights, the boys and I were able to go with Jed to the junior high retreat this past weekend. I brought all the snow gear thinking we’d be able to get out and play some, but turns out, Kaelem and Quincy were so tired from the night before that they slept from just after lunch to dinner. And I of course wasn’t going to pass on a chance to sleep when there weren’t any chores to do…it was great, and helped me stay up to the wee hours to tie paper clips to very thin fishing wire. That will make more sense if you jump to Steph’s blog.

I think we’re done with trips now until June. Thinking about all the potential traveling this summer at the moment will make my head explode, so I’ll stop now.

Jed designed the shirts we’re wearing. They were actually for senior high who were on a ski trip, but I asked sweetly and he got one for me too.

We’ve hit a regressive streak with Kaelem and his toilet training. Grrr. Not sure how it’s happened. Maybe that he can change clothes all by himself now, particularly Buzz Lightyear underwear? He’d been doing so well. I asked him today after the third or fourth “accident” what it was going to take to get him to use the potty and not his pants. He thought about it and then looked at me with a grin, “Presents! I like green and purple and orange and yellow presents. I like presents with bows on top.” Ok, fancy wrapping. Check. I asked him what he would like inside his present. “A dog.” Great. Swap out messy toddler pants for messy doggie doo. No boy, you may not have a dog. Just gonna rip that bandaid off right away.

Recently, I’m not sure when exactly, Kaelem has become interested in dolls. While doing another closet clean-out I discovered a doll that I had made when I was 12 or 13 years old. It was probably my first sewing project ever…and as you can see…never completed. I was emotionally attached enough to take a picture, but not enough to keep it or repair the seams that were falling apart, so I tossed it in the pile to throw out. Sad, I know. Anyway, Kaelem intercepted and has been playing with the doll for a couple weeks. One of those days while playing, he said with very concerned voice, “She has no eyes Mama, no eyes.” That nearly brought me to tears. Poor little boy, your doll hasn’t any eyes.

I noticed today that the arm seam was on its last stitch. Stuffing was falling out. I commented to him that we’d have to find a different doll. Kaelem’s face lit up, “A doll with eyes?!” Yes, a doll with eyes. He announced, “Today is, go to store and find a doll.” He ran to Quincy to tell him, “Quincy! We’re going to find a doll with eyes!” As if that wasn’t enough, he danced around the living room saying, “I so excited!” It was decided. We packed up and went, right then and there.

It isn’t the most adorable baby doll in the world, but it has eyes. And removable clothes. I remember wanting dolls that could crawl, go potty, cry…he just wanted eyes. I asked him what he was going to name his doll…”A doll,” he said.

If I could have given him my favorite doll, it’d be something like these $100 Waldorf dolls, but with the huggability of a Cabbage Patch doll. I have to be realistic though and know I can’t spend that much on a doll when I know this will be a short-lived phase for my little boy.

Quincy wore this little red suit to church yesterday on Valentine’s. He had fun at the piano for the first time.

Reading about Samson during Bible story time tonight. Kaelem is usually attentive because he knows he’ll have to go to sleep when storytime ends. Quincy is also attentive as usual.

Just some pictures of the recent creations in the kitchen…and of my new ‘do.

The chocolate layer of the stars cake was the  best and is called One Bowl Chocolate Cake III on allrecipes.com.

Quincy boy is six months old. Even strangers are telling me how fast time flies. Stats? Well, he’s looking more and more like me (Sarah), so people say. I keep wondering what his hair is going to do. We’re still messing with the cradle cap and diaper rash. The doctor said the rash still looks yeasty to him and some diaper free time will clear it up. I’m very reluctant to try that, for one, the mess…and two, it’s cold. Other than that, he’s been pretty healthy the last month. He won’t have to get more shots until 15 months, if I remember correctly.

One of the things we love about Quincy is his easy goingness.  He’s such a sweet little guy. He loves his big brother and continues to laugh hysterically at any little antic Kaelem does, which of course, eggs Kaelem on all the more. I can’t wait for the day they can start doing brotherly things together. Kaelem gives him a kiss and hug almost every night and will randomly come up to him and say, “I love you Quincy” throughout the day.

He has fallen under his birth growth curve, but continues to grow. He’s still eating every three hours during the day and we’ve also given him solid foods like rice, oatmeal, bananas, squash, and sweet potatoes. He’s taken to all of it very well and hasn’t had the gagging reflexes Kaelem did. For the past two months he’s been waking up at hungry at 3am, so we tried giving him a bottle of formula after his last evening nursing. It only worked to stuff him so much that he lost all his dinner, so we haven’t tried that again since. Anyway, the last week he’s slept a good 8-9 hours straight, which has made all the difference to me. finally!

The week we got home from our travels, he rolled completely over from back to front and front to back. He’s been at it since and pushing up on his arms. I try to put him down on his belly whenever possible while awake, rather than propping him up or putting him in the swing/bumbo. He appears to be sitting unsupported in the picture, and he was for a brief second before tipping! He’s usually happy with tummy time and if not will flip over and find a toy to grab. We’re having to teach Kaelem now to keep small objects out of Quincy’s reach. I was finally able to capture a complete roll on camera. He was sweet enough to do that for me even though he was ready for a nap!