Feed Me

Merrick is a man of few words. He didn't start really talking well until the end of this summer. He is finally now starting to string some words into sentences, and to start saying his words so that more than me and his dad can understand them. It's such a cute phase...and I find myself getting upset when he masters saying another word correctly. *Yeah yeah, I know...I shouldn't want my child to say his words incorrectly forever.* Anyway...he's taken to showing me, not telling me, when he is ready to eat. Sometimes he'll say "Mommy, hungey" (which means he's hungry) but several times lately I've heard him in the kitchen, climbing into his highchair, waiting for the food to appear.

I think he is of the mindset "if you build it sit in it, food will come."

No Shoes...

Lately, my sibs have been raving about these shoes called Toms.I was kinda not paying attention at first, and I kept hearing about these shoes that were for a good cause, were cute and really comfy. Zoned out, like I said, until Billy started looking at them online yesterday. (I've had other things on my mind...like trying to keep shoes on Merrick, for one thing.)
Traditionally...I think the female is supposed to be the shoe lover in the relationship. Us? Not so much. Billy is the one always wanting new shoes. Sure I like shoes...but when you are 5'9" and wear a size 9 you feel like you and your feet are long enough that you'd rather not draw any extra attention to them. Plus I usually invest my shoe money in things I can run in...which does not include heels. I'm not that coordinated. ;) Plus when you are already as tall as your husband, flats it is. I barely even wore shoes in my wedding...and usually avoid them if at all possible. :)

Anyway...looking over his shoulder I noticed how cute these shoes were. *in my opinion anyway...and they look comfy and flat. :)* Maybe my sisters were right...usually the cute shoes they are talking about don't look comfy, and would add unwanted many inches to my already really-tall-for-a-girl height.

As we browsed around we read up on the Toms movement, as they call it. *Click on the Toms picture above to check it out.* Every pair of these shoes that is sold, they send a pair of shoes to a child who needs them. They have lots of different colors and several different materials and styles. Just thought I'd share the info...I was really excited about the website and what they are doing.

I know I complain about Merrick constantly taking off his shoes, but looking at it from this perspective I'm glad we are blessed enough that we have shoes. This seemed like a pretty good excuse to buy some shoes to me. :)

Break it Down

We've always talked about how much Merrick loves to dance. Here is yet more cell phone evidence of his hobby of breakin it down. *This was while watching So You Think You Can Dance last week* :)

Toothless No More

Tirzah has been stringing us along for some time now. Kind of like when we were waiting for her to make her appearance. She waited until the last minute, and we were sure she was going to bypass her due date. She made it with 30 minutes to spare.
We've been doing the same thing waiting for her to get her first tooth. Yes, she's got her first tooth, and she's barely four months old. Some kids are nearly a year and aren't teething. How did we get so lucky? Well...our kids are just carnivorous like that I guess. Merrick had his first tooth a bit later, but he had all his teeth soon after, and got his molars without so much as a whimper. I just happened to notice them in his mouth one day when he was yelling. Go figure. :) Tirzah didn't teeth so silently, and has been whining, chewing her hands, and drooling us all into a puddle for what seems like 4 months. :)

*It's hard to tell from the picture...but it's finally broken through her gum. I'm sure there will be better tooth pictures to come as it keeps coming in. I never fail to document absolutely everything you know. ;)*

I barely recognize her without her whole fist stuffed into her mouth lately. She has even shoved it so far into her mouth that she gags. Merrick is all too happy to help with this, and has had to be reminded many times not to stick his fingers down his sisters throat. :) He's so helpful.

I'm glad for her sake it's finally broken through. I just hope our wardrobes survive the drool that's sure to come with the next teeth.

Vinegar and Socks

Alot of times we don't know what we've got till it's gone. Lately, it's been the sun. :) Ida sent it packing for what felt like a whole week. I'd forgotten what it was like to not be cooped up in the house with the hooligans. Believe me, being cooped up with these guys can also make you forget other things...like you're name, what day it is, what it feels like to have an adult conversation, etc. :)

We've been helping dry out my mom's basement for almost a week now after the flooding. *It currently smells like a mixture of vinegar and socks in her house...much worse than the frequent dirty diaper aroma we have around here. Never thought I'd here myself say that. :)*

But it has been nice to get out of the house, minus an umbrella and a boat. And to see some color back in the sky...

I took this picture at mom's...it doesn't smell so bad outside. ;) All kidding aside, I am grateful to see the sun again, and glad for the reminder about all the little blessings we overlook everyday.

You are sunrise

You are blue skies
How would I know the morning
If I knew not midnight?

- Nicole Nordeman, Sunrise

The theme at YouCapture this week was Sunrise/Sunset...check out their site for some great pictures!

Ida

We've always bugged my dad about putting a pool in at my parent's house. I guess we should be careful what we wish for.

These pictures are from my parents basement, and the site of our indoor pool. And yes, that is a 20 gallon shop vac. And goodness knows how many times I've filled/emptied it with the fury of Ida in the last 24 hours. Whoever did the rain dance is in big trouble. :)

There was water standing, and pretty much bubbling up before our eyes, in the basement. Merrick is pretty much the only person who thought that was funny. He squished around the basement in his bare feet for hours. I think I've been cured of ever-as-long-as-I-live wanting a basement. It kind of struck me as ironic that the bedroom in the basement is decorated in all manner of sea-creatures. :)
Thankfully our house, which I lovingly refer to as The Swamp, doesn't have a basement. We could, however, go surfing in my front yard. :) Billy is just glad that the rain finally knocked all those hanging-on-for-dear-life leaves out of the trees.
The only problem is they are soaking wet, and it seems to have given them some kind of super-human sticky powers to get stuck all over every surface in sight but the trees. Like my kitchen floor. :)

Also, I don't usually have my glamorous plastic deck furniture laying in the yard like that. But it was pretty windy too. The other chair was in a bush on the other side of the deck. I still can't figure out how we didn't lose the electricity...it seems to cut off every other weekend and holidays out here in the woods. :)
I'm really glad it wasn't worse than it was. We're still not sure what is going to happen with m parents' basement. But the vacuuming is to be continued...tomorrow morning and until the water stops coming in. Things already seem to be drying up a bit, I didn't even need my floaties to get to the car this morning.

Playing Favorites

Not talking about my kids...although I do have two favorites, but I'm not telling who is who. ;) And speaking of kiddos...Merrick and I had the chance to go play in the leaves in the backyard a few days ago. Fall is one of my favorite seasons...I have 3 favorite seasons: Spring, Summer and Fall. I just tolerate winter since it includes Christmas. ;) No seriously, I do love fall, and this fall has been really gorgeous. Merrick is so much fun to watch...everything is new and interesting to him: like dumping leaves on my head for example, which is what he most wanted to do while we were playing. I didn't mind, at least it kept him entertained enough to stay in the yard. I snuck in some pictures while we were playing, it's best if I keep my photography undercover around him...or I get the classic Merrick *back-of-the-head* shot. :)

This week at I Heart Faces the theme was Autumn Beauty. I think we caught the beauty part just in time, since Ida knocked all of our leaves out of the trees this weekend. :)