Highlights from our trip to Springfield, IL

Moses' first plane ride

Meeting Great-Grandma Harris for the first time

Playing with Great-Granddad and making his day!

Swimming with Grammie

Lounging poolside with Poppie and working on his tan

Playing hard with Uncle B

Tea partying with Auntie Dana
Thank you everyone for a wonderful visit! We miss you.

Happy Father's Day

Ella the Photographer

Ella has recently been giving photography a shot. She takes it very seriously and has a pretty decent amount of patience for the task. Here are some highlights from her portfolio.

Above: You might call this a classic staged still life. Ella calls this a picture of her friends playing on the blue chair.

Below: Isn't amazing how a 3 year old can make "mistake" shot and make it look like a set of butt cheeks. I don't think those are really butt cheeks. I guess it could be though.
Above: We'll never know if this was supposed to be a picture of Dewey or Moses. Instead we have a close up of Dewey's head and some little feet at a distance. Excellent!

Below: This is probably the best picture ever taken of Moses. Look at that adorable face with that wonderful smile! And look at how our little photographer kind of ruined it with greasy finger prints on the lense. Oh well.

Sorry

It has been too long since we last shared a glimpse into the lives of Ella and Moses and Dewey. It has been over 100 degrees for 5 straight days here in North Carolina. We've been working really hard. Moses and Ella know how to keep you busy. That's not an excuse. I've also been lazy.

Tonight I'm not unlazy enough to write a whole lot today. I'll start by catching up on pictures. More detail on our now 5 month old and his big sister soon. First, a month in pictures:Shirtless reading on a hot, hot day. Moses has really been into books recently...eating books!

Big eyes and a big hat on a sunny day.

Big smile!

Silly Siblings.

Fo' Mo' Months

Moses' 4 month Birthday came and went and we missed an update. The little guy has made a lot of progress since month three. He's rolling--check back soon for video. He's eating solid food--see below for pictures. He's weighing in at 12 pounds, 12 ounces at the 10th percentile. He's a little guy with big energy and a whole lot of personality.
He's just so nice and happy, but that's not really progress, just the status quo. He still lights up most when he sees Ella or even hears her name but he's also remembering more and more people and showing real excitement when he sees them. This little guy is just so great! Really, really great!
My first cereal.
My first cereal exhaustion.

A Big Day in North Carolina

This morning we started our political day with 2 early votes for our guy MoBama. Ella made two passes through the polling site and by the time we were done she could even tell you who should get your vote for State Labor Commissioner. She got two stickers. We all got our say in this wild election. And then the day picked up...

Bill Clinton was going to be at our polling place at 3:30! So I sprinted home from work, gathered up the kids, and joined our neighbors and the students at the North Carolina School for Science and Math and we waited for a shot to meet our last elected President. It was a pretty wild scene as the Obama Guerrilla Support Team showed up with their extra signs and megaphones and managed to drown out the Hillary supporters. It felt a little aggressive but it as impressive.
We ended up on the wrong side of the street and thought we weren't going to get a shot at a hand shake. Then we found ourselves on the other side of Clinton's car as he was headed out to leave. Then he spied Ella across the way, looked right at us, walked right past his car and came to shake both of our hands. It was pretty cool.
Here's a picture of Bill Clinton shaking our hand--we think.

Thanks for coming to our neighborhood, Bill. Come on over for coffee sometime. Just ignore the Obama sign out front.

Deep Thoughts by Ella

I was in Las Vegas for a weeklong conference, so Ella, Moses and Kelly were holding down the fort. They definitely made it just fine (and ate out a lot…). Below is the transcript of a note that Kelly sent me mid-week.

Overheard at Ella’s bedtime last night:
E: I miss Daddy.
K: Me too. Let’s think about the things we love about Daddy!
E: I love Daddy because he makes silly faces.
K: I love Daddy because he gives really good hugs.
E: I love Daddy because he plays football with me.
K: I love Daddy because he works hard every day to help lots of children have good teachers and good schools.
E: I love Daddy as much as I love the world.
(long, thoughtful pause)
E: And because he has a hairy tummy.

While we have your attention, check out the really great picture of Ella and Caleb on their blog.

Our Happy Boy

*ignore the finger. he doesn't know any better yet...he doesn't mean anything by it. He loves ALL of you!

Beauty Shop

Ella took Zaida and I to her "Beauty Shop" this morning. She's clearly proud of her work.

While Rome Burned

We had a wonderful trip to the North Carolina Zoo on Friday. We had a long morning with lots and lots of walking. Ella was great and Moses did really well on his first pretty long outing. We timed our return with both of their nap times hoping that we'd have a sleepy, quiet ride home. Ella fell asleep as soon as the key turned in the car. Moses, dealing with the return trip of his longest car trip yet, put on a show. No children were injured in the making of this video. In fact, he fell asleep just a few minutes after this video was taken. Ella just slept through the whole thing. Classic! Her eyelids report that having a little brother isn't that annoying after all.

Huddled Up

I just really love this picture!

Confusion

Remember--we live in North Carolina and it is April.
Ella is a pretty smart little 3-year-old. Unfortunately she's lived in the south, New England, and in between in her short lifetime and it seems to be taking a toll on her wardrobe choices. This week she showed up to play outside in this outfit. That flower on the left side of the frame gives it away. The winter hat is out of place. Cute. But out of season.

The good news is that it is totally spring here and it is beautiful. Midwesterners, northerners...come visit!

Dressed for Work

Moses recently tried on some work clothes. He's ready with his his knee-high argyle socks. It stopped there. Good look, huh?

Overheard

Tonight at bedtime, Ella was bragging about how she never gets in trouble at school: "I never hit anyone, I never throw my snack, and I never kill animals with shovels." Apparently there was some ant smashing going on out there today.
She didn't take part. Whew!

3 Months

Moses turned 3 months old last week. The 4th trimester is over and according to Dr. Harvey Karp, Moses is "readier" for the big bad world...and he is defintiely the "happiest baby on the block." This little guy is just about the best. He wakes with smiles and has developed a solid giggle. He's easy to be around 98% of the time and is full of love. He still responds best to big sister Ella entering a room. And she enters with hugs and kisses and snuggles just for her little brother. Sibling love is in full effect!

This week Moses found his feet but we're not yet sure that he understands that they're connected to his legs, which are connected to his body. And he hasn't gotten them into his mouth yet. That's coming. He's full of drool as if he's getting teeth but we're pretty sure he's not. It's just the big adorable bottom lip. He wakes up once over night and once early in the morning and that seems to be it for now. And he goes right back to sleep!
It feels like he's been around forever and like he's going to be a baby for less time than Ella ever was. Thinking back to when Ella was a baby we kind of wish it was the other way around. We love this growing personality.

And don't forget...just 9 months to do your Christmas shopping.

Morning Snuggles

Don't Worry

There is an awake adult in the house...taking the picture.

skid-a-ma-rink-ee-dink-ee-dink

Ella's First Photograph

She pointed and she pressed the button. She captured a CLOSE-UP of her very best friend, Dewey.

Smile Festival

Cousins

Moses is exactly one week older than his cousin Judah. It appears for a while that older will be the most accurate adjective to use when comparing the two. Judah is clearly bigger. A lot bigger given the 7 day difference.
Size differences aside, these guys are already good buddies and will surely grow up happily together. Here they are enjoying a snuggle.
Here their competitive dads work quickly on trying to become the favorite Uncle.

Moses at 8 Weeks

Believe that! 8 weeks. The little guy has been around for 8 weeks and we are all basically totally used to him being around--as if we started as a family of 4. He just does his thing and we do our thing and everyone seems to get along fine. I realize that may sound boring but our world is far from boring these days.

Moses is a happy, happy boy and in the last few weeks he's become full of smiles and "agoos." He even continues to work on his "Ella" sounding noise. When he says it, she doesn't seem to miss a beat as she responds, "Yes Moses." That's cute! He can really carry on a conversation with his smiles and verbiage.

The sleeping is going really well and we continue to pinch ourselves each morning just wondering if we're really that different as parents or if he's just that different a baby from his big sister. He naps when he needs to without much of a fuss and he sleeps for long stretches of the night and after each one goes right back to sleep. He's been practicing putting himself back to sleep after an early nap wake up with a decent amount of success. If he doesn't fall back asleep he seems perfectly happy to just sit and talk by himself for a while anyway. These are the behaviors that baby sleep books are made of. Let's hope he keeps this up.

He's super-strong with his neck and his legs and can roll half way over. When he figures out what to do with his bottom arm he'll be all over the place. He likes to socialize a lot but he also really likes his time on his own just looking around and taking in the world.

Today is the end of a 4-day weekend for me and he hasn't cried a single tear in the days I've been home.

All that and Moses is about the cutest thing you ever did see.

We love you like you've been around forever, little guy. We all do...Mom, Dad, Big Sister, and hairy older dog brother. And we love you more each day you change and grow and become more and more wonderful to be around.

A Visit From Grammie and Poppi

We just had a wonderful visit from Grammie and Poppi. We celebrated Poppi's birthday, they got to know little Mo a little better, and we just had a whole lot of fun. Some of our fun was very active. See exercises with Grammie above. Some of our fun was just Sunday style chillin. See Poppi and Ella reading below.
Thanks for a great visit! Come again soon, please.

Our Official Endorsement

Here's hoping that the cutest Barak Obama supporter in all the land helps carry momentum for our guy and we wrap this thing up soon.

After all, "We are what we've been waiting for!"

My Turn

Big sister, you talk and talk and talk all day long. Boy can a 3-year-old talk.
I don't say much but when it is my turn I want to be heard! My turn! Shhhh...Agooooooooh!

Moses at 6 weeks

Full of smiles and absolutely adorable. Check out this little guy!!!

Napping

Look at these sleepy twins...

Proud Bubby and Zaida

Here's a picture from Bubby and Zaida's visit from a few weeks back. Here they are with all 5 of their beautiful grandchildren with special hugs for the two new little ones. Thanks for being so wonderful with them all!