4 and 29 Months old!

As of today, we have a 4 month old and a 29 month old in our household! We have had a wonderful month and there was never a dull moment! They are BUSY boys, but soooo much fun!

Today Jacob asked "Mitchell, do you like your brother?"

Mitchell responded "Yes. I love him very much."

So cute! :)

Mitchell is sooooo entertaining lately! You can hold a real conversation with the kid. He really processes things in that little head of his. Yesterday at breakfast, he was quiet for a few minutes (unusual). Then he looked at me and said, "Bicycles have pedals to make them go, that is why they don't need gas." Wow - where did he come up with that?

I took him to the store with me this afternoon to try to find a new pair of running shoes for myself. He looked down at my feet and said "Mommy, you don't need a pair of shoes. You already have some on your feet." I think Jacob is corrupting him!

Maverick has started to giggle, it is heart melting!



He is all smiles most of the time!

We made the most of a rainy day by playing in the warm, spring rain!

Mitchell LOVES to read books! He even requested that I take him to the library yesterday (it was closed). We'll try to make it today :)

He is such a monkey, climbing on anything! He loves to play hide n' seek too. "Mommy, will you look for me?" is a common request!

I think he's a bit too big for Maverick's bath!

Maverick loves being outside!

Silly boy :)

Processional

Last week there was a terrible house fire about a quarter of a mile from our house. We heard siren after siren that night and since the boys were already in bed, we followed the story on the news. Unfortunately, a young Shawnee fireman lost his life trying to rescue the homeowners, who turned out not to even be home. :(

They held his funeral this week and had a processional of rescue vehicles all of the way from the Shawnee fire station to our church for the service. There were over 100 vehicles from all over the metro area. People lined the streets waving flags. It was very touching and sad.

This firetruck is carrying his casket wrapped in an American flag.

They kept coming and coming and coming....for over a half an hour.

We met up with our neighbors to watch the processional. Maverick had a great time hanging out on a blanket with Grace (born 1 day after him).

Until he got a little frisky and starting pulling up her skirt!

....and then she clocked him!

Rest in Peace, Baby the Cat (1995 - 2010)

Our sweet little cat passed away yesterday morning :( She was 15 years old and her little heart just gave out. She gave us lots of great times over the years and had a great life!

Some of our fondest memories of her include:

Her name started as "Ellie". She was our family's first cat. My mom surprised us with her my senior year of high school. Kelli would complain about her when she'd sit at the kitchen table doing her homework and Ellie would use her little paws and bat at her pencil while she was trying to write.

Her name was fondly changed to "Cry Baby" after her meow turned into an obnoxious cry that sounded like a real baby! Over the years, her little voicebox couldn't substain that cry and she became fairly mute. She'd open her mouth to make a sound, but nothing would come out causing people that first met her to ask "Mandi, is this cat okay?" She was just fine :)

Her name has changed to "Baby the Cat" since we had the boys mainly because it's confusing to have more than one Baby in the household.

She LOVED to find a warm cozy place to lay and became very fond of baby seats, bassients, car seats, etc.

She could often be found on our warm electronic equipment like our laptops and on top of the stereo in the entertainment cabinent.

She was SO gentle with Mitchell....

...even when he wasn't so gentle with her!

She was a persian, long haired cat and her coat would get VERY matted and tangled if we didn't keep it short. I once asked my Dad to pick her up from the groomers. He brought her home and she didn't want to get out of her carrier kennel. He said "If my haircut looked like yours, I wouldn't want to get out either!"

Instead of paying for haircuts, Jacob and I decided to tackle it ourselves. We got better and better at it, but I distinctly remember hiding her in the laundry room once right after a bad haircut when we had people over!

No matter how she actually looked, we seemed to notice a change in her attitude after a haircut. It was like she knew she had been tot he spa. She would prance around and waive her little rear in Tex's face to show off her new do :)

We fed Baby little cans of soft, wet cat food. She was addicted to them! She would hear the top pop off and come running! She would often wake us in the morning by putting her little tiny paw under our bedroom door and shake the door back and forth until I got up to feed her! What a smart cat!

Baby was my first baby. When I returned from K-State and got my first apartment, she came with me. She was the easiest pet and so cuddly. She would often 'instruct' you to pet her by crawling up on your lap, purring in your face and swipe her little paw towards you. How could you resist? I know Mitchell got quite a few laughs from this :)

When I purchased my first house in Olathe, Baby and I got three roommates (two of my friends and Tex.) Baby hid under the bed for the first two days after I brought Tex home. I fretted and worried thinking, how could I do this to Baby? After she realized Tex wasn't out to get her, she and Tex became fast friends!

When Lisa and Anna lived with me, we had some interesting pet problems! Neither of them were "animal" people and I did lots of travelling for work those years. They certainly tried their hardest, but I still remember getting a phone call while I was working out of town one week. It was Lisa "Mandi, I'm so sorry to tell you this, but Anna and just realized that we haven't seen Baby since you left on Sunday." It was Thursday. What? I printed up flyers with her picture and had them all ready to start posting the next night when I returned home...until I got the next call from Lisa again telling me that they found her hanging out under the neighbors shed, but couldn't get her to come home. When I got back, I used the "bait" of her soft cat food. She came running quickly. Problem solved. I'll save the stories about the fish dying, Tex getting sick or Tex eating Lisa's birthday cake. It's hard for me to believe that BOTH of them have TWO dogs of their own now!

It makes me very sad to think that Mitchell will one day see these pictures of her with him and ask me "Hey, Mom. Who was that cat you had when I was little?" I know he won't remember her, but many of us will!

I texted my family and some close friends yesterday to inform them of her passing and quickly realized that she'd been around so long that many of my friends had become close to her too, including my old roommates.

She will be sorely missed by all.

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin'

Maverick officially started rolling over yesterday. He can go from tummy to back and back to tummy...watch out world!

Before his individual success, he had lots of help from his big brother! This might be one of my favorite videos yet. I love how he refers to him as "little Maverick"; I guess he has graduated from "Baby Maverick" now that he "growed up".

Photo Shoot

Maverick and I had a little photoshoot yesterday during Mitchell's nap time. He is such a happy little guy! I can hardly believe how fast he's growing up! Even Mitchell said "Mommy, he growed up!" today :)

Is this not the most fitting picture of a 2 year old? Clutching a sippy cup, bandaid on knee, sitting on a potty and NOT happy about it! This picture makes me want to go upstairs and wake him up just to squeeze him! :)

All in an "everyday" day

This first picture comes with a long story....here goes. Jacob and I took on the project of organizing our attic. We have been hoarding too many things that we no longer need, so we spent all afternoon sorting and organizing a big trip to Goodwill. At one point, we gave Mitchell a popsicle downstairs and headed upstairs for one last look. After 5 minutes, we hadn't heard anything from Mitchell...which is VERY odd. I asked Jacob to go down and check on him. I start to hear Jacob shouting "Mitchell, Mitchell...where are you?" Oh, crap! I rush downstairs frantically to start the search, only to see our little guy crashed on the couch. Whew!!!!! :)




We love our wagon rides! Maverick sits up with the help of his bumbo seat. They both love it!

Maverick looks more and more like his daddy to me every day! Jacob and I often find ourselves talking about how easy Maverick is! He is such a happy little guy!

Family Fun :)

Our family of girls has been invaded by little boys!



The boys sure do love these gals...and so do I :)


Grandma time is the best!

Family Weekend

The boys and I are accompanying Jacob on a business trip to Minneapolis this week. How could we turn down the opportunity to visit Grandma and Grandpa again? :)

Before we left, we enjoyed a nice weekend at "camp". The charity organization that I am on the Board for organizes a family camp weekend each spring and we get to bring our own families! Mitchell had a blast playing in the outdoors!

We did some hiking.

Played some soccer...which mostly consisted of kicking the ball in the goal and then tangling ourselves in the net while we retrieved it. Lots of fun - ha!

Mitchell caught his second fish!

There were lots of arts and crafts activities to do too. Jacob helped him make his own golf putting hole.

It's been a cold, rainy trip to Minneapolis so far...but we're crossing our fingers for warmer weather tomorrow!

Family Trip to Deanna Rose

We decided to take advantage of the nice spring weather to take the boys to Deanna Rose Farmstead. It's one of our favorite Kansas City spots! :) Mitchell had a blast!

We fed the baby goats a bottle.

We learned how to bait a hook...

...and it worked! Daddy & Mitchell caught a little fishy.

Maverick napped contently while the guys were fishing away in the background.

Mitchell took his first pony ride! The rules state you have to be 3 years old to ride, but there are some advantages of being big for your age!

We panned for gold too...to no avail :(

Maverick woke up and enjoyed himself too :)

This is bound to be one of our hotspots this summer!