Unplanned vacation

Mandi, Jacob and Aaron all got a little unexpected "vacation" to Nana and Papa's last week. As it turns out, our 30 year old plumbing has seen better days, and it wasn't content to spring one little slab leak on us. No, our plumbing decided to throw us one more curve ball. Apparently, while they were constructing our house long ago, someone ran a little nail right into the pipe that feeds the master bedroom shower. For 30 years, this nail held fast and watertight, and only decided to start rusting out and dripping at some point during the last few months. We were happily oblivious to this issue until last Monday morning, when the dining room ceiling started dripping water onto our floor.

Repairing the actual pipe was simple enough, but there were two small complications that often accompany most any plumbing fiasco: the ceiling drywall was soaked, and the moist environment in the ceiling had led to small amounts of mold. A full repair amounted to replacing almost half of the ceiling in the dining room over the course of the week. Mandi wisely opted not to stay in the house with two small boys while heavy construction was underway and mold could potentially be in the air, so she packed up the minivan in a frenzy Monday afternoon and drove up to Paso for the week. She managed to take care of both kids without daddy's help, and without the usual comforts of home, for five nights and six days—go Mama! I stayed here and took care of contractors, going to work, and restoring order to the house once the ceiling was back up. The family returned home Saturday afternoon and we've spent the rest of the weekend getting back into our usual routine and doing the usual unpacking-laundry-groceries-cleanup dance that one does after returning from a trip.

Anyway, Mandi managed to get some fun pictures during the trip. Best of all, Aaron started smiling while they were gone, so there are some really fun pictures in here. Apparently Aaron likes grinning at Chuck. Go figure. :)

Little grins

And So It Begins...

Well, actually we've been introducing the concept for quite awhile now, but today is a red letter day. Today, Jacob used his potty chair! He received one M&M for being successful, and now is very motivated to continue to try to use the chair. Potty training is not a huge issue for us at this point, though. None of us are ready for full-on training, but we'll let him try when he wants to (like tonight; all his idea), and eventually, it'll happen. Mama and Daddy sure are proud, though!

Hallelujah!

Yesterday was the second day of Jacob's life that he did not have a bottle of formula (the first being the day he was born). We were down to just the morning bottle and he stopped asking for it this week, so yesterday we didn't give it to him (or today, for that matter). And since Aaron is solely breastfed, and nurses so often that I don't have time to pump, he's not using bottles either. So, no more bottles, at least for awhile. Hallelujah and Amen!

He is Risen!

He is Risen! Easter was again a very special day in our house. Four years ago, John and I were married right after Easter. Two years ago, Jacob was baptized on Easter Sunday and this year, Aaron was baptized. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful Easter service at our church. We had a wonderful time celebrating with both sets of grandparents, Aunt Dana and Uncle Josh (the godparents), and our friends, the Krols (you can find more pictures of the day here).

Easter and baptism

Lil Bit Ranch explained

Okay, I'm not sure Mandi did the Lil Bit Ranch story justice in the picture captions, so I'll explain it.

We had just finished dinner. Mandi went to sit on the couch and hold Aaron for a little while to keep him calm. Jacob was playing in the kitchen. Someone knocked at the door, so I went to answer it. I was gone for maybe a minute. I come back, and Jacob is standing on my chair. My formerly almost empty plate is covered in salad—Jacob has found the bagged salad and dumped out the last third of the bag onto my plate. And then, he got his hands on the ranch bottle, which he is holding upside down, and pouring gobs of ranch onto my plate. He looks at me with a totally straight face, says "little bit ranch," and keeps pouring.

Now of course I took away the ranch immediately and told him "no" very firmly, but we couldn't scold him too much. Mandi and I were both laughing too hard.

What a goose.

"Lil Bit Ranch"

Here are a few more pictures from the last couple of days, including the MOPS egg hunt and Jacob helping himself to dinner tonight:

Egg Hunt and Stuff

Surviving

I am on day number two of being alone with the boys, and so far it's working okay. I had a little help yesterday with getting Jacob down for a nap, and then Aaron slept the entire time Jacob did so I got a decent nap, too. This is good because the nights are bad. Aaron wakes up almost every hour to feed during the night and has for the last week and some. Jacob has definitely turned two and into a different child. We are having many daily battles as he vies for attention. But he's still his cute, crazy self. We are looking forward to the help from Nana and Papa starting on Friday and the baptism on Sunday. Just one picture this time:

From 4 years

4 Years

Our lives have changed so much since that gorgeous spring day four years ago. A different house, different cars, a different job, and two beautiful children. Both boys have brought such joy to our lives as they continue to grow and change.

Speaking of growing, we took Aaron for his two-week well check today. He is definitely growing. He weighed in at 9 lbs., 1 oz., gaining more than a pound in 10 days! He certainly does like Mama's milk. He did finally catch the family cold, so we're all just hanging out at home, trying to feel better.

4 years