Reading Time!

I was reminded today of such a special time Shea and I shared while I was pregnant with Zoe Cate. The further it got in to the summer, the later it was in my pregnancy. I was HUGE and it was SOOOO hot outside!! I was also exhausted from being 8 months pregnant with a 20 month old. Many an afternoon, I would lie on the couch. Shea would bring me book after book and climb up on the couch with me. We'd lay there and read for usually an hour. We would read a book and then he would climb down and go pick out another one to read. I so enjoyed that sweet time with him. He's always loved to read and to see his excitement as he would point things out to me in the book was fabulous. It was so nice to just relax and snuggle my boy. I knew that the coming months would not allow for much 'laying' around so he and I took full advantage and did this practically every day!!!



This is how he and I would spend many of our afternoons [minus Eric as he was at work!!].

When I was a little boy...

Both Shea and Zoe Cate have always talked in a different tone to animals and babies. We noticed when Shea was just starting to babble that when he would babble 'talking' to Charlie or my parents dog, Milo, that he would use a higher pitch voice. Almost as if he was doing 'baby talk'. Zoe Cate has done the same thing. It is so sweet to watch her talk to Charlie and love on her!! I can remember Shea doing the SAME thing when he was a sweet baby.

We have had a bit of a time lately with Shea not wanting Zoe Cate to touch ANY of his toys. ANY OF THEM. Seriously. Shea, you've been around a couple years longer than Zoe Cate. You've had a little more time to acquire 'stuff'!!! Earlier, Zoe Cate got a couple of Shea's trains. He started to protest so I told him to just calm down. "She never plays with anything that long. She won't hurt them!", I said to him. So, he was watching her carefully and she was having a great time. Then he said to her, in that sweet high pitched voice reserved for animals and babies, "You like those trains, Zoe? Those were mine when I was a little boy.". His face was full of such love for her. After how rough and not very kind he's been to her this past week, it was sweet to witness him being loving towards her! I am thinking Shea considers himself a BIG boy and not a little boy....he's right!!

Convicted

I just heard this song the other day. Wow. I was convicted. I hope it touches your heart, too.

Piggies

Zoe Cate is not a huge fan of her shoes or socks. She much prefers to go au natural and let her piggies be free. Now that it is colder, I've had to put socks on her. Now that I have to put socks on her, I *have* to put shoes on her!! Her FAVORITE game is to pull her socks off! I have to put shoes on her to ensure she will keep her socks on. She will start cackling laughing before she can even reach her foot to pull her sock off. It always takes her a bit of work to get them off because she is laughing so hard. Of course, Eric and I play her little game and she ends up in fits of laughter!! We are so blessed that we get to hear her sweet laughter every day. It's the little things in life, I hope she will always be so easily amused!!

Put *that* in your Memory Bank...

The kids and I went to Walmart yesterday, but not *any* Walmart, the *NEW* Walmart that is still clean. On the way there I remembered that we needed to glue to do a little craft project Shea got at a birthday party. I couldn't write it on my list because I was driving and well, who are we kidding?? If it isn't written down...IT DOESN'T HAPPEN OR GET BOUGHT!! I said to Shea "Hey Shea! Remind me that we need to buy glue from Walmart!" "Ok, Mom!". So we get to Walmart, we avoid the candy aisle, got all the stuff on our list plus a few extras that Shea just 'had to have, Mommy, pweeease?!?!? Can we?!'. A pack of hot dogs and Scooby fruit snacks later, we checked out and got all loaded up in the van. I turn out on the main road and from the back seat I hear 'MOM!!!!! We forgot to buy glue!!!!!!!'. HAHA!!! I couldn't help but bust out laughing!!! Thanks, Shea!! Just a few minutes too late....

BAM!!! Watch out Emeril....

It happens every day at around the same time. Dinner time. Those who know me know that I am NOT A FAN of cooking. I just do not enjoy cooking. I know how to follow recipes and I've been told that I'm a 'good cook' when I actually do cook. I know as a mom and a wife that is very important for my family to have home cooked meals. I know it's true, but I don't have to like it! :) Shea has really been in to helping me lately. Each evening as I am getting ready to cook, he says to me "I can help you fix it!". Last week he helped me make mashed potatoes. He really enjoyed using the mixer but had to be reminded a few times to KEEP THE MIXER IN THE BOWL WHILE IT'S ON!!!!!!!!!!

Tonight, I made my speciality, Hamburger Helper!! Don't laugh, that stuff is good and y'all know it! Shea, of course, wanted to help so I told him he could help me after I browned the meat. He is so proud of himself!
I love his concentration while stirring, this is serious business. Having a helper does make cooking take a bit longer but he is so happy to help and so proud to be 'big enough' to cook that it makes it worth it.I love this sweet helper. Just wait till he gets to be the big helper when we CLEAN UP dinner! :)

The Great Pumpkin!

We finally got around to taking Shea and Zoe Cate to this little pumpkin patch down the road from our house. In reality, it's just the front lawn of a church with tons of pumpkins. They had some cute props set up that made for great photo ops......if only the kiddies would participate!!

I told Shea to hold on to Zoe Cate and he actually did a good job keeping her upright. By this final picture, she had had enough!!!


We were able to snap a few more pictures but it pretty much went downhill from there!! We did get a decent one of the me and the babes, please excuse Zoe Cate's tum, she likes to air it out!!

Shea did not want to leave and made us promise we'd go back. We assured him we would...in a year!