Come Again?

In this latest installment of "What Does She Say?", we'll discuss the new and fabulous things Catie can say at 16 months.

Cute things:
Ummmm....
Ohhhh baby!
Eewww!

Good things:
Mama
Autumn
Thank you! (or "dee doo", whatever)

Not-so-good things:
Mine (thanks Will!)
No
Poo poo

It seems like she's learning new words every day! She's still no Will Bower, but I suspect she'll get nominated for a Nobel Prize one day.

Back in Action

We were on a short hiatus while the kids and I visited my parents, sisters, and friends in Chicago for 5 whole days! I'll be back with pictures and stories, although I think my readers (Mom) probably know all about our trip! ;)

It's Ramen

Angie: Ooh...we can't eat this apple, Will.
Will: Oh no! Is it ramen?

Photo Phwednesday

Since the past couple weeks have really stunk photo-wise and I'll be out of town this Friday, I thought I'd bring to you Photo Phwednesday! Enjoy! (and I think I figured out what was going on with my camera, so I have lots to choose from!)

Fun at the wading pool! Notice the third picture where Will's being a typical brother. Sweet.

Sandcastling- The creation of buildings with sand as the medium.

You'd think she were a celebrity and I were paparazzi with the way I was following her around with the camera. She's just too cute!

For you!

Dancin' and Coffee-makin'

Thought I'd share this video from this past weekend. Nothing earth-shattering, but cute nonetheless.

Duh.

I thought Catie fell asleep in the car at 9:30 this morning because she didn't feel well. Will informed me that she fell asleep because her awake left her.

Well duh!

Awwwww!

Tonight, as I was cleaning a scrape on Will's knee, he told me I'm awesome. "You're awesome, Mom!" to be exact.

Will's New Skill

Check him out!

Photo Friday

There are two things I'm bummed about this Photo Friday- 1) my camera is not taking great pictures in less-than-desirable lighting, so I got a bunch of nothing this week, and 2) we were (insert your best Matt Foley/Chris Farley voice here) down by the river at Dave's office tonight and I FORGOT MY CAMERA! It's just amazing... Maybe I'll take the kids down in the morning to take some pictures.

So, without further ado, here are the crapolas I got this week...

We made a tent in the living room because we're trying to keep the kids out of the basement as much as possible, what with the asbestos tile, carpet tacks, and cat pee.

Will in the tent








The kids have been fighting over this box all week. Catie won this round.









Do you see the rug at the left in the picture of Catie in the box? We got that last weekend from Sarah and Will LOVES it. I'm so glad she gave it to us! Thanks, Sarah!

I promise to be a better photojournalist this week.

On a Roll

Will's a very talkative boy. But seriously, today he was taking the cake. I mean there was a verbal stream of consciousness that was never-ending.

We went to get his hair cut-

"...you know there's another Great Clips on Merle Hay Road, but we usually don't go there...where do you keep your suckers?...do you see this shark? Sharks are mean and they don't like people and they'll BITE you and so will crocodiles. Crocodiles like to bite people too...I'm three years old but on Octover (yes, OctoVer) 16 I'll be four years old...where do you keep your suckers?...how old are you?...no, you're not an old lady!...what kind of cake did you have on your birthday?...Oh! I love chocolate! My mommy has some special chocolate in the drawer that she doesn't let me eat...I had an airplane cake for my birthday...where do you keep your suckers?...that's my baby sister Catie, she's one years old...

We went to visit friends with a new baby. On the way there and home-

"...do you think Teddy will want to play with me?...but he probably knows how to sit up...there's Home Depot!...Teddy is a really nice baby! He's a beautiful baby!...what are we going to have for dinner?...OOH! Look at that! It's flooded there!...can we go to McDonald's for dinner?..can we take a bath tonight?...

And on...and on...and on...

And I know I'm missing some of the funniest things he said. I really should keep a note pad nearby at all times.

Sing a Song

Will's been into singing lately and one of his songs is "Ring Around the Rosie". But if you listen carefully, the second line is NOT "a pocket full of posies", but "a punkun pull deposie". I've found that it doesn't matter if words don't seem to make sense (Hello! For years- really up until just about a year ago- I thought it went "She's my tomay-tay" instead of "She's mighty mighty" in "Brick House") if you dig the tune.

And every day at naptime, I sing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to Catie right before I put her in her crib. For the past several days when I tell her it's time for her nap, she'll sing "up a buh" as we walk into her room- which I'm pretty sure is "up above" from the song.

Sweet, huh?

Sorry Kids...

No Photo Friday today! We have a flooded basement and that's where the computer is. It's being turned off now...

Back That Thing Up

Let's see if I can explain this. Those of you with toddlers will know exactly what I'm talking about. It's just not something you can take a picture of (correction: It's not something I can take a picture of...I'm sure my friend Sarah could figure out a way to capture it), but it's one of the sweetest things in the world, so I feel like I should give it its due.

Catie's mastered the art of "The Back-up".

"The Back-up" is this: While you're sitting on the floor, a toddler brings over something she wants to share with you. She turns so her behind is facing you, starts slowly backing up with her big, diapered tush jutted out, aiming for your lap which she may or may not land on. Sharing of the afore-mentioned "something" commences.

We now have two "Back-up" artists in our home. Lovin' it.

Tomato-Lime Soup

Will has been busy in the kitchen this morning, making his milk-based Tomato-Lime Soup. Looks good, right?

(note: I don't know if it's appropriate to put a picture of a boy in his underpants on my blog. But I couldn't help it for two reasons: 1) the situation called for a picture on the blog- explaining just wouldn't do, and 2) his underpants are both inside-out and backwards. Toddlers are funny.)

Maybe...

Will has a solution for the "no passenger trains in Des Moines" issue he has. It's very simple:

We'll move Chicago with its L train to Des Moines and we'll move Des Moines to Chicago. We'll switch them!

Monkey Breakfast

Imaginative play: This sweet monkey wakes me up with an alarm, asks what he can get me for breakfast, tells me they're out of pancakes (what breakfast place is out of pancakes, and really, what IS breakfast without pancakes?!?), they're out of waffles, they're out of eggs...but they have bacon.

But I'm vegetarian! I don't eat bacon!

Not to worry. It's vegetarian bacon.

I guess that'll do, Cute Monkey.