Easter Pictures

For those of you who have been to my mom's house, I'm sure you remember the Easter pictures that run chronologically around the walls of her office. Every year since my first Easter, she's done pictures of us around Easter time. Some are cute and others...well, they were cute to her at the time. :) Anyway, I'm going to try to uphold the tradition. We didn't get a picture of Iain in his Easter suit on that Sunday, but we did get some last Saturday. We were in Tallahassee for a friend's wedding, so we plopped Iain down among the ducks at Lake Ella. Here is the result:


And just for fun: the other day after changing his diaper, I put Iain down in his crib so I could wash my hands. When I came back, he had pulled himself up on the side of the crib and was peeking out through the bars, looking like a little prisoner. :) It was the first time he had managed to pull up on the crib. Cute, eh?

Finally, a quick update on the house: we are hoping to get the framing done this weekend.

Blogging by the Wayside

As in, where it has fallen.... Not much else to say on that topic. :)

Iain is growing fast. He can now pull himself from sitting to standing, using the couch or the footstool or something. He has even started "cruising" just the tiniest bit. Still no crawling though, something which makes him mad. As for teeth, they are still not in. Poor baby! He just pulls at his ears all day long. We are praying and hoping the teeth come soon.

As far as new things to report, we had a nice visit with Grammy and Papa last weekend, which included a trip to the fair. My sewing class (one of two) finished up last week. Caiden came along with her aunts and she and Iain enjoyed making funny faces at each other (or maybe we all just enjoyed watching them make funny faces). She sure made Iain look tall!


Aunt Sam, John, Cassie, Lillie and Luke came to visit last week. We took a trip to the Science Center, which was featuring an exhibit called "Grossology" about all things gross. And it was! The kiddos liked it though, and I have to admit, it was interesting. Have you ever heard of Bird's Nest Soup? Don't eat it. :) Anyway, here is Iain, Grace, and Lily putting together the food pyramid inside a giant stomach...
...John and Iain being eaten by dinosaurs...

...Lillie and Iain being hatched by dinosaurs...
...Nan, Grace, Iain, and Luke with the giant talking fly (he had a Brooklyn accent)...
...Luke by the waterfall thing...
...Cassie and Lillie harvesting oranges...

The following pictures include (in random order): Iain's shy face which is appearing more and more frequently, along with some jumping in the bouncy seat, pulling up on the footstool, an adorable yawn, and general cuteness.

We're Back!

Sorry for the lack of entries recently. Iain has been putting us through the wringer sleep-wise, and by the time evening hits and he goes to bed, I either forget to update or am to tired to do it.

We spent Easter Sunday in Jacksonville with Kelsey and my family. It was fun - but Iain didn't really nap, so he was off kilter for that night...and all the nights since. This weekend, he started to get a bit better, but it's like we're starting over with sleep. A good night these days is like a bad night a month ago.

He sure looked cute in his Easter duds. It was so cold that I had to change him right after church, so I didn't get any pictures, but this week, I'm going to try for some good ones. Here, however are some good ones from our picnic lunch after church. There was an egg hunt, a football game, plenty of good food (Grammy - I made your Bisquick biscuits), and fun time in the grass and warm sun.

The Second-Cousins:

Sometimes all you need is a good pacifier...

Or a cute hat! (the little girl is Zoe, the one-year-old baby of friends of Kelsey who ate with us)


The old-man-with-no-teeth face
The Football Players Return:

Today, Iain figured out how to spit with his tongue between his lips. He kept it up for the entire duration of our dinner, and the funny faces that went along with it made us laugh.


And two more cute ones, just for kicks:

By the way - Iain has conquered cheerios. He can pick them up (whole fist, not two fingers) and almost always get them in his mouth where he rolls his tongue around until he can chew (or gum?) them and eat them. He loves them and they keep him happily occupied!

Phew

We had more of a fight than usual getting Iain to bed tonight. He wanted to jump, talk, play, fuss - anything but relax and go to sleep. Finally, I had him quiet with his eyes starting to close when a noise woke him up and he was back to arching his back, looking around, fussing. Thankfully he is down and out, hopefully for a while. So here are a few pictures, and then I'm done.

Iain after a bath: He was playing and splashing a lot in the tub (now that he can sit up, he likes it better), so that's why his eyes are a bit red. He never cried when he got himself in the face, but he did kind of gasp and look surprised.

And the swing outside. Grace and Natalie came over a few times to play with Iain, and he loves it when they take him outside. (You can tell this picture is a couple of weeks old by the fact that Iain is dressed in warm clothing.)

Yum Yum!

If you know us well, you know we are Slurpee fans. I think we are second only to Haylee in our shared love for the frosty treats. A few weeks ago, when Haylee was in town, she offered Iain a taste. Usually when I have a cold drink, he wants to lick the condensation off the cup, because it's cold and wet and feels good on his still-teething gums. He also likes sucking on ice cubes wrapped in a washcloth. So we decided we'd see what he thought of a real cold treat. It was a very small taste, but he did seem to like it!




Here's a summary of the past days:

Last Friday, Iain and I went with my mom and grandmother to Tallahassee to visit Haylee, Jenna, and friends. Iain did admirably! He had an upset stomach and was teething, and he still held it together bravely. We enjoyed the trip, though it was a very long day.

Grammy and Papa came for a visit Sunday and Monday. It was good to see them and Iain was especially tickled by Grammy's funny dances and songs. He really laughed and laughed at her - more than he has ever laughed. It was just so cute that we wanted her to keep dancing and him to keep laughing! Grammy and Papa also watched Iain for Jeremy and I so we could mix cement and fill cells in our cinderblock laundry room walls. This was a big help and we got the job done a few hours and wheelbarrow loads later. (If anyone out there knows how to load video clips on here, please let me know - I have adorable ones of the laughing Iain!)

Speaking of work on the house, everything is moving along fairly well. We are almost ready to frame in! That feels like a big milestone. It will be so nice to have this done, both for the extra space it will aford us, and to be done with this huge project that has gone on for so long.

Last Wednesday, we went back up to Tallahassee (all three of us this time). We stayed overnight with Jenna, and Jeremy played drums at Wesley, along with some of the former praise band members. It was a lot of fun! Jenna stayed with Iain so I could go to the worship service, and afterwards, we stayed late talking to old friends. We didn't get back to the apartment until about 12:30 am. Having the old praise band together and worshipping in the Chapel of the Upper Room again with good friends around was surreal and wonderful.

And finally, Kelsey came down on Saturday because she was the finalist in a drawing for a car. She didn't win a real car, sadly, but she won a foam one that Iain loves to chew on. She also sat with him while he played on his new favorite toy, the Bee Bop Band drum and percussion toys he got for Christmas. He can play with these noisemakers for long periods of time without getting bored. He's especially taken with the centipede drumsticks which are good for waving around, gnawing on, and of course, smacking the drum and other things with.

Developmentally, Iain is now sitting like a champ. No teeth yet, though his gums are still bothering him. He reaches his arms up when he wants to be picked up, which is adorable and my favorite of his new "tricks." He is now eating squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, pears, rice cereal, bananas and cheerios (well, he's trying to eat the bananas and cheerios. He's not quite there yet). Green beans are a no-go. He likes sitting on Jeremy's lap as Jeremy plays the drums, and Iain likes to hit and scratch at the cymbals. He can push up on his arms and wants so desperately to crawl, but he's not there yet (in the picture with him on hands and knees, he had some help to get there, but he did manage to stay that way.). When he gets there, look out! This little guy can move! He never stops kicking his legs or jumping up and down or twisting around to look at something - he is more wiggly than anyone I know. Just try to hold him on your lap in church and you'll know what I mean! He's also still trying out his "words" - a few days ago he had two ladies at the store carrying on a conversation with him. He was thrilled and ready to show off his cuteness, and they seemed to enjoy themselves as well.