The kids acting even more grown-up

Today Annie learned to say her own name very clearly. She also blew some very obvious kisses my way at bedtime (stalling so I wouldn't leave the room), and I'm pretty sure she was singing to me when I put her in her crib.

Jake got out of bed about 30 minutes ago to go to the bathroom. He was in there a LONG time, so I went to check on him. He was sitting on the toilet...reading the newspaper.

Seriously. It was like stepping into some strange dimension in which my son is suddenly an old man or something...

Tomorrow Annie has her two best friends coming over (see, at this age, I get to choose who her best friends are based on how much I like their moms), so I'll try to take a few pictures. I'd love to pull out the tea set Aunt Jane got her for Christmas, but I suspect Annie might try to eat the cups...or throw them. Maybe we'll do a juice party with sippy cups instead. :)

Bragging on my HOT little sister

Is it wrong to say that I've got the most beautiful sister in the world? Of course I could go on and on about her artistic, acting, and vocal talents (and I will if you ask), but she's also just drop dead gorgeous.

To tease her, first I'm posting this picture from her 10th birthday.


Okay, she's adorable there, but check her out now. This is Caitlin at Friday night's Kings & Queens Ball (Is that right, Cait?) at William & Mary. And that guy is her lucky date.



Dude, all that and she's brilliant too. It would make a lesser big sister jealous. ;)

Belated Easter Pictures

Everyone remember Easter? Well, here are a few of our Easter pictures. Yes, it was cold here, but Caitlin, Adrianne and I braved the weather to hide eggs...So you better believe we made those poor kids go out and find them. :)

Jake, the serious hunter...


Annie, the "What Am I Doing Here?" Hunter...


Caitlin stepped in to help Annie along in the process...


Ike and Jake, posing to show how excited they were about finding eggs in 40-something degree weather...

Little Women: Not a Book Review

I've shared with many of you my theory that every man needs a Little Woman inside his head. Just a teeny, tiny woman in the corner of your brain. A woman to give you the advantage we women have: intuition.

This woman would have a pretty simple role. She'd be the reminder you need from time to time. "Hey," she might gently suggest, "It's your mom's birthday next week. Why don't you go ahead and send a card?" Or, "How about you make dinner tonight? Your exhausted wife would appreciate the gesture." Or she might quietly reprimand you when you stare at certain body parts of a woman...a woman who isn't your wife.

The most significant job this little woman would have is this: she would do everything in her powers to SHUT YOU UP. You know, before you say that one stupid thing. The one that puts you on the couch for the night. The one your wife calls her mother about.

The one that your wife blogs to her friends and family about...

So, today Ike, Annie and I all went to Bangkok Cafe for lunch (very yummy, very cheap). We drove through UNCG to get back downtown for Ike to go to work. I suppose it was the Spring Dress Code at UNCG (you know, all those girls in very little clothing) that made him say this. Or maybe it was the Devil. But I assure you it wasn't his Little Woman In His Head.

"You know, I should have been a firefighter," he said, referring back to the fireman graduation he'd filmed that morning.

"Oh yeah?" I asked politely (but with my Woman's Intuition, knowing this would not go well for Ike).

"Yeah," he answered (Does anyone else hear a Little Woman screaming??). "Because all those firemen today had their wives and girlfriends there. And they were like supermodels."

I hear you, ladies and Woody. And Dad. You're all yelling at the computer, "Oh no he didn't!" Some of you may even be doing a finger snap or two.

But yes, he did.

His Little Woman? Must be dead.

This time it's the desk's fault

So, recently, I organized our desk. I got everything in working order, made a place for everything... And guess what I found?

MY BLOG! It's been hidden here on the desk for almost a month. Poor lonely space.

Anyway, this is a quick update on everyone. Jake is working toward his two goals (I've been inspired by what I call, "The Success Bible," and yes, now even my son has goals) to 1) make it all the way across the monkey bars by the end of the school year and 2) earn his yellow belt in karate by his sixth birthday. On Monday he talked with his sensei after class (without my help! It was very grown-up and scary for me) about what he could do between now and then to get to his yellow belt. Someday soon I will post a picture of him in his uniform with his white belt.

Annie is talking. Constantly. She wakes up talking, talks while she eats, talks in the car, talks while she falls asleep. Every morning either Jake or I have to say, "Annie! I can't hear over you!" Not everything she says makes sense, but a few things are very clear. She likes dogs, cats, anything soft. She can now say "squirrel." She loves anything that starts with the letter "B": ball, bubble, baby, brudder (that's "brother"). When she finishes eating in her high chair she looks at me and says quite clearly and impatiently, "UP." If I do not immediately respond, she wiggles out of her constraint and climbs up onto her tray. Ike keeps insisting that she's not going to make it through toddlerhood, but I actually think I'm the one that won't make it.

Ike had a birthday last week, so now he can drink legally...plus 12. And the update on me? Ummm...I'm still mommy. Oh, except now Jake calls me, "Mom."

Which of course makes this sound like Ike and I are very boring while our kids do all the fun stuff...

Huh. Maybe so. Here's a picture of us a friend took at Spring Fling at Jake's school.