The Garden Begins...

... and ends just as quickly? I hope we get at least one tomato from the deal!


Playing in the dirt - I mean, planting seeds.





We planted cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, marigolds and peppers, keeping them inside in egg-cartons. Everything came up except the peppers... I think the seeds were old. But then the wedding busyness hit full-force, and I didn't get around to building the raised bed and planting them as soon as I should have. By the time we got to this stage:





...only the tomatoes and a few marigolds remained. I planted some herbs right into the ground - nothing yet. As of yesterday, all the marigolds had died off, too. I knew my thumb was brown! How can someone love plants as much as I do and yet be so terrible at keeping them alive? Ah well. At least we had fun trying!

Kelsey's Pictures

Kels took Easter pictures for us this year. She needed some fodder for her portfolio and she has cute nephews. It's a symbiotic relationship.







By the way, those overalls that Iain is wearing used to be mine. :)

Visit to the Grandparents

Yes, this post is many weeks old. I know.

We visited Grammy and Papa weeks ago and had a good time -- with the exception of Iain being sick the first day. Everything else was lovely (especially having babysitters so Jeremy and I could go out, leaving BOTH boys behind, and eat lovely icecream. Yum.).

The Cory Edition

Big news of tonight: Cory is rolling! I just put him on the floor on his tummy and he rolled right over like he'd been doing it all his life. He's so proud of himself. :) He hardly waits until I've let go after turning him back onto his tummy before he rolls right over again! (By the way, I checked blog archives to see when Iain started rolling: it was right before he turned three months, just like Cory. Check Dec. if you want to see pictures of that again.) (Another by the way: these pictures are not of the same roll. He was too fast to me to catch all the "stages.")





And of course, when we made such a big deal about Cory rolling, someone else had to show that HE'S a good roller, too.



It's just so amazing how fast he's growing. He'll be three months old in five days! Look at that neck growing stronger!
This was Cory in February:


And now:


Looking at his big brother:



Here's our sweet boy asleep in the sunshine (and holding on tightly). We were out doing yardwork that morning.



And a few more just because I like them.



Jeremy with Iain:


Jeremy with Cory:


And now for some Cory-isms:
- Cory has given himself a sad little (big) bald spot on the back of his head by rubbing it on his bed. Or throwing it back and forth, really. He sleeps swaddled and he likes to have his face smushed against the bumper. Since he's all wrapped up the only way he can get there is by tossing his head from one side to the other until he creeps his way over. He does it all in his sleep - it's so funny to watch! Well, I took the hint and started putting him right up next to the bumper, but still he throws his head. Poor little bald spot.

- Cory must be the most good-natured baby around. He rarely cries. But when he does, he goes from silence to screaming and sobbing in an instant. And his sobs are so pitiful!

- He is a pacifier baby, but he'd just as soon hold the pacifier and chew on both it and his fingers. Sometimes he tries to get it back into his mouth on his own. Sometimes Iain helps him.

- He likes his swing pretty well, but not as much as Iain did, and not as much as Cory likes his yellow bouncy seat. Here's Cory looking old in his swing.


Cory, you are such a blessing to us. Our family would be incomplete without you - you bring us joy, smiles, and sunshine. We love you!


Stay tuned... Kelsey took some great pictures of the boys that will soon appear...along with a special post just for Aunt Jenna.

Catching Up... The Iain Edition

Here they are in random order:

Iain has a tape called Nursery Rhymes and Lullabys that he loves. He'll just sit and listen and sing along sometimes ("quack quack" on Six Little Ducks, "cat, kit" on Three Little Kittens They Lost Their Mittens, "baa, baa, wooo" on Baa Baa Black Sheep, etc). If only we had a cool, old-fashioned radio this would look positively Norman Rockwell-esque.




And you might notice that the back of the hair needs a bit of a trim...sniff...his first haircut... But it was starting to look a little mullet-like and we can't have that now, can we?


My mom came down to help me do it because part way through I was sure I'd mess it up somehow and he'd go through life emotionally scarred from his horrible first haircut. The first snip, and the sweet ducktail curls are no more:


But it turned out pretty well and once again he's a handsome dude. And I think he grew up about two years in the ten minutes it took us to cut it:


Here is the current favorite dad-activity: professional basket-surfing. To do:
1. put small boy in laundry basket
2. run down the hall at top speed, pushing small boy in basket.
3. repeat
4. repeat
5. repeat



For Nona's birthday a few weeks ago, Iain painted a clay pot for a plant, and some picture frames. Actually, he mostly painted himself. Here, a narration in the master's own words.

Hmmm, which colors to choose? Boo? Lowlow? Pin? Geen?



Brush or finger? Both.





I beseech you, Mama, give me back my cereal.


What do you mean I'm too covered in paint to eat it? Ohhh, the injustice!


My hands are clean, honest! See?


Current Iain-isms:
- Lately, when it rains, Iain asks (repeatedly) to go outside and dance. And if we let him, he does!
- When it's time to brush his teeth, Iain comes to me and says (in a whispered voice) "too-pay, too-pay, too-pay" for toothpaste. That was actally his first two-syllable word.
- Speaking of two syllable words, "again" has gone from "na-gaa" to "ahh" to "again!" He's finally got that one down.
- "Yes" however, in still "zzaaaahhh!" Apparently, he often gets words completely backwards at first.
- He refers to himself now, which is fun to hear. He calls himself "Eeen."
- Iain often asks to go to the park so he can "dive-dive" or drive drive. He's talking about the steering wheel thing they often have on playgrounds.

Tune in next time for The Cory Edition, some playground pictures, and more!