Jelly Belly -- Eleven Months

Our little girl is on the move and loving it! She wants to walk so badly and can walk along when she holds on something, but has yet to go hands free. She is getting pretty fast at crawling and likes to chase down her brothers, though often she is just arriving at the destination by the time they are heading to the next.

Jelly Belly loves animals of any kind. She laughs hysterically at our friend's dog. I was telling Os about Jelly Belly throwing the ball for the dog and he said that if the girl wants a dog she should have a dog. Papa is definitely wrapped around a tiny pinky finger. We all are, really. It is hard not to be smitten with a little one who grins so big every time she sees you. Moose and BiggiE spend a lot of time making her smile.

We love you, Cutie Pie!

I Want To Be A Part Of It...

NEW YORK, NEW YORK!


The Empire State Building, a Tourist and the cutest King Kong you ever did see.


Batman and Superman are ready to save you!


Our Jack'o lanterns.


Jelly Belly's Jack'o lantern smile...
Instead of coming in in pairs the top teeth have alternated giving Jelly Belly the perfect Halloween smile.


WARNING: The next picture is not for the squeamish.

Uncle Drew had me cut his hair into a mullet. The mullet plus the mustache with some jean shorts and aviator sunglasses was very realistic. Drew said it was a funny costume when you were around people you knew, but when he went to a party where he only knew one person he made people a wee bit uncomfortable.

Harvest Mustaches

With Os working crazy long hours during harvest, the kids and I like to come up occasionally and join the crew for a little pizza party. Uncle Drew is working harvest this year, too, and he has introduced a new feature to Pizza Day: milkshakes.

You may have heard of the Playoff Mustache, well, here we have the Harvest Mustache and Uncle Drew's milkshakes help Moose and BiggiE get in on the mustache action.

Lovin' BiggiE

My friend, Marcy, introduced us to a book called I Love You the Purplest by Barbara Joosse. The story follows two brothers and their mom through a day of adventure and affection. I often think of this book and how my relationship is different with each of my children, but my degree of love for each of them has the same ferocious intensity.

I have been enjoying the three days a week that Moose is a school and Jelly Belly is napping and I get a little one on one time with BiggiE. I may have mentioned that one of our friends calls BiggiE "The Professor" because he always has detailed explanations for what he is doing. This same friend recently remarked that we may need to rename BiggiE "The Mayor". It's true. BiggiE can be quite outgoing when the fancy strikes him.

BiggiE's preschool teachers are the same ones Moose had last year and all four of them were commenting on how different the two boys are from each other. Not bad, they qualified, but so different. Whereas Moose was focused on his peers, BiggiE chats with everyone, especially the teachers -- all the time. They also said he is very affectionate and loves to give hugs. It's true. If BiggiE has met you before that means you are hug worthy.

One thing I love about being a mom is watching these three people develop who they are. I feel like I am often looking at them and wondering who they are inside. Occasionally I get a glimpse of who they may be at 10 or 30. It is humbling and awe inspiring.

We Love You, Cardinals!

We can't believe it! The Cardinals are out of the playoffs!

Sad, but true, the St. Louis Cardinals are through for the season. We're willing to take the blame. We thought for sure the Cardinals would make it to the World Series because it was Jelly Belly's first baseball season. We were two for two to date -- the Cardinals made World Series appearances in 2004 (courtesy of Moose) and 2006 (courtesy of BiggiE). Our winning record has been broken, along with the Redbird's. I love Os, but this was my last attempt to help them to the World Series. They're going to have to do it own their own next time.

Good thing they have Albert Pujols.

Deity at the Door

Moose and BiggiE have been sharing a room since BiggiE was about 5 months old. We have a standing rule that they can lay in bed and chat for about 30 minutes after we tuck them in. It can be hilarious to eavesdrop on their conversations and songs (yes, Moose and BiggiE originals, in fact).

Being that we are in the thick of harvest Tyler is working very long hours and usually gets home after the kids are in bed. Last night he walked through the front door a few minutes after I put the boys in bed. Tyler went back to give them a kiss and in his lovin' Papa way he decided to have a little fun.

He flipped on the hall light, but instead of just walking into the room he laid down on the floor and slowly pushed the door open. The boys chatter stopped as they watched the crack of light at the door. Tyler pushed the door a bit more and waited.

Long pause.

Moose, in a hushed tone: "I think it's God."

Another long pause.

BiggiE, in his loud speaking voice: "God? Is that you?"

I love the faith of children that they just expect that deity would show up to say goodnight.

Jelly Belly -- Ten Months

This stage of babyhood is so poignant. Ten-month-olds are starting to lose some of their babyness; they are learning new things on an almost daily basis and their personality is becoming more evident. Jelly Belly has four teeth now, with the top middle two on their way in. She is waving, clapping and signing "more". She is, also, a crawler.

You may have seen the Ninja Cat video circling the web a while ago. When Jelly Belly first began crawling we called her the Ninja Baby because it was a good four days before any of us actually saw her crawl. She would wait until no one was looking and when you would glance at her again she would be in a new spot on the floor.

I'm not sure if her Ninja Baby status is what prompted the game with her brothers in the video below, but somehow Jelly Belly is the Ninja Cat and Moose and BiggiE seem to have the job of yelling (loudly, I might add) and running away. Ah, the life of the youngest in the family.