Please vote in my poll

Okay, my wonderful sister, Alissa, suggested a name that I also like for my blog book. I'm not sure which one I like better. Kelly's suggestion is "Worth a Thousand Words" and Alissa's is "Pages We've Turned". I think they're both pretty cool and both have double meanings. I like how neither one specifically mentions one of us (especially Cason, he hogs this blog enough!) Please help me decide so I can finish my book and get it ordered. Thank you!

Help me name my book!

So I found out about a website called blurb.com that lets you turn your blog into a book. I spent a ton of time the past two weeks laying it all the way I want it. This first book will be from when Cason was born up until this May right before Bryce was born (I backlogged some entries because I was sad that I didn't start the blog until Cason was 10 months and wanted to start at the beginning). I plan on making a new book every year or so. So I need a title for my book that will work for all my future volumes. Help me think of something that's not cheesy!

Kelly thought of "A Thousand Words" as in a picture is worth a thousand words because I have a lot of pictures in it. But also I have a lot of words (duh) so kind of a double meaning. So it could be "A Thousand Words" and then subtitled "Volume 1 : July 2007 - May 2009". I kinda like it but I'm not sure if it's THE ONE. He also suggested "Worth a Thousand Words". I'm totally drawing a blank on other ideas.

Anyone have any suggestions that are catchy? Please?!

Grandpa B's Visit

Woo hoo, I have noise reduction software back for my photos! Because my kids move around a lot, I have to shoot in the sports mode on my camera to avoid blur. This setting shoots at a high iso, so noise (grainy appearance) appears in most of my pictures. I have complained about this many times on here before. What I used to do is e-mail myself the pictures, then go to the Dell computer in the office to run them through the free noiseware software I downloaded. Then I had to e-mail them back to myself, open them on my mac, and edit them on iphoto. It was a pain but it was free and noiseware isn't available as a standalone for macs. Well, two weeks ago, the Dell got a virus. Since we have absolutely nothing of value on that computer, I just put the restart disk in. That wiped out all the drivers for some reason and now we can't get on the internet on that computer (or really do anything else for that matter). So I had to purchase noise ninja for my mac. It wasn't very expensive and now I don't have to e-mail my photos back and forth to myself anymore so it's much better anyway.

All that to explain why I'm late getting photos of my dad's visit up. My dad came a week and a half ago to hang out with the boys. Cason kept him entertained and laughing. This was his first time to meet Bryce.

On Saturday, we decided to go tour the new Cowboys Stadium. Kelly had taken the tour at the old Texas Stadium a few times when we first moved here. Based on his experience, we thought we'd stand in line for maybe half an hour, then go on a 45 minute tour of the stadium and be on our way back home. Wrong. We got there right when tours started and had to wait an hour and a half just to start the tour. Then the tour lasted almost two hours. It is a very cool stadium (despite the issues with the punters hitting the scoreboard!) but the tour was not all that impressive. They kept showing us media room after media room. If you've seen one, they're pretty much all the same. We liked the tour but wish they would have compressed it to about half the time. Despite that, the boys were very good on the tour. Cason didn't complain at all, even though he must have been starving by the time we left (90 minutes after his usual lunch). Doesn't he look thrilled?

In the locker room:

My dad used to have an awesome workshop in his basement and has made some very impressive woodworking projects. Therefore, we always have a few projects for him to help us with when he comes. Before Cason was born, we had him help us put a chair rail up in the bedrooms that now belong to Cason and Bryce. Back then, Kelly had only a few basic tools and we had to rent a miter saw from Home Depot. In the past few years, Kelly has been slowly building up his arsenal of tools so we can do more projects. This visit was no different, we planned to have my dad help Kelly build a cornice box for Cason's window. It was a pretty easy project and Kelly plans to build another one for Bryce's room when he gets some spare time.

Thanks for visiting Grandpa!

Potty Training

Well Cason has been poop trained for quite some time now but we didn't take him potty often enough to be pee trained. There was always an excuse: too busy during the school year, new baby in May, trip to Iowa, etc. So when we got back from Iowa, we got rid of diapers during the day. We're not brave enough to tackle potty training when he's asleep yet. Cason has done great, in the past week, he only had one accident. He goes everywhere in undies now: church, various stores, play dates, even a tour of the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium (I'm sure I called that by the wrong name and Kelly will correct me) this weekend that ended up taking hours longer than we thought it would.

I'm so glad to have him trained before all of our activities start up again this fall. In two weeks, he will start preschool one morning a week. He will also be in the church childcare once a week while I'm at Bible study, once every other week while I'm at MOPS, and of course on Sunday mornings too. I know there will be accidents but I think he's off to a great start.

My dad visited us this week but I haven't edited the pictures yet so I'll have to save it for another post. I have another project that I'm really into that's quite time consuming. More about that later.

Here is Cason sporting his boxer briefs while playing outside with the hose.

Update on Bryce

Bryce seems like he is a different baby after our Iowa trip. Before we went to Iowa, he enjoyed sleeping in his bouncy seat and being held, in that order. He hated tummy time so I confess I never made him do it. He didn't like his play mat. He really only enjoyed looking at us and out the window. Now he talks a lot more, is awake a little more of the day, and likes to play some.

At Grandma's house he discovered the joy of ceiling fans.

Here he is enjoying a little tummy time.

Notice the smile?

And here he is on his play mat.

And I just love this picture. He looks way too cute here.

He also found his hands and has been chewing on them quite a bit. Add that to the drool and I'd say he's probably working on a few teeth. He has also been batting at toys and if I put one in his hand, he will hold it for a few minutes. I don't have pictures of any of that though so you'll have to use your imagination.

And check out these two pictures, sorry the second one is blurry:

The top one is Cason at 1 month and the bottom one is Bryce this morning (2 1/2 months). I don't think they look much alike but in these photos, they have the same chubby cheeks and their mouths and noses look similar. When I showed Kelly the pictures side by side, he thought they were both Bryce. Until I pointed it out and he looked more closely that is.

Bryce had his 2 month check up (at almost 3 months) yesterday. He weighs 15 lbs, 2 oz now and is 24 1/2 inches long. I learned a very important lesson yesterday. Never schedule his appointments for the afternoon when he is usually sleeping. He was more angry about being woken up then about the shots he got. If he wants to be sleeping, you had better let him sleep. He screamed for most of the appointment and the nurse said she's never seen a baby that upset about getting measured before. Great, I have the grumpy baby! By the time we got home, he was happy again though.

Back in Texas

We are back in Texas this week. We had a great time in Iowa. Cason loved being there and having new people to entertain. He was so good the whole time we were up there and adjusted great to all of the new places. He slept in five different houses and never fussed about it at all. His favorite thing to play with? Rocks. He played with rocks at Grandma's house, at Grandma and Grandpa's house, at Tate's house, etc. He is still talking about all his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins he saw in Iowa.

I was not looking forward to flying back to Texas with a 2 year old and a 2 month old all by myself. In fact, I was dreading it. But it turned out to go pretty well. The boys were angels once we got settled on the plane. We hung out too long in the main part of the airport before going through security and we ended up getting on the plane right before they closed the gate. Oops! So we had to rush and didn't really get to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa. Bryce screamed his head off all the way through security and as I tried to get on the plane because I had him in the baby carrier but he wanted to be held. Cason was great until we had to leave the stroller on the jetway and then he screamed "no airplane! no airplane!" as he followed me onto the airplane. Everyone was already seated and was staring at me as I carried a screaming baby, tried to get Cason's enormous car seat on the plane and buckled in, and Cason screamed behind me. So embarrassing. I chose not to make eye contact with anyone. The flight attendant was not helpful at all. I finally got Cason's car seat buckled in, him in it and buckled, and Bryce out of the carrier so he stopped screaming. Everything was great after that. Cason played with an Eclipse mint container he dug out of Grandma's purse for 4 hours straight. He refused to fall asleep, even though we didn't get home until 11 pm and his bedtime is normally 7:30. Bryce just chilled out and slept because he was swaddled and had his paci. When we landed, I waited until everyone was off and then I got everything gathered up. Then the flight attendant was super helpful. She helped me get the car seat in the carrying bag and even carried Cason off the plane and buckled him in the stroller. A sky cap guy helped me push the stroller up the ramp. Then I was able to carry Bryce in one hand, push Cason in the stroller with the other hand, and wear the car seat in it's carrying bag on my back to walk to baggage claim where Kelly was waiting. I'm sure we were quite the site. Our bags were the first three on the belt about 1 minute later and we were on our way. Overall, a very good experience, except for those 6 or 7 minutes from security until we were settled on the plane.

Okay, that was the longest paragraph ever. Here are a few pictures from Iowa.

Walking up the street to see the digger that was digging holes for the new well.

He looks pretty cool on Luke's bike but he had no clue how to pedal.

There are horses right behind Grandma and Grandpa's house.

At the park on Cason's birthday. Tate and Cason giving each other a high five.

Cason showing off his muscles.

Checking out a caboose.

The boys loved this ramp for golf balls at the children's museum.

This is a cute picture.

Happy Birthday Cason!

Dear Cason,

Looking back over the past year, it's hard to believe how much you've changed. You went from not talking at all, to learning dozens of signs in sign language in just a few weeks, to speaking full sentences. Now you make philosophical statements such as "Cason eats toast, baby eats milk!" You learned all of your letters, numbers, colors, and shapes and are well on your way to being potty trained. You went from a baby who hated being dropped off at the church nursery to waking up and asking to go to "church and play" or "gym and play", even if you do still like to be held half the time you're there.

I love how you imitate things you see us do, and how you are so interested in what we are doing. You constantly want the ladder out so you can watch Daddy cook and mix up his protein shakes and watch me do dishes and give your brother a bath. You were such an observant baby and that hasn't changed. When we go to the park, you are happy to sit on the bench and see what is going on. You love getting out of the house and going places. I don't know any toddlers who are as good running errands as you.

I love your laugh and your intensity. When you are happy, you are REALLY happy. When you are mad, you are REALLY mad. Daddy and I didn't know if we would all make it out of the terrible two's alive but we survived and are probably a bit more patient now. We are happy to have our fun, sweet boy back.

I love how sweet you are to Bryce when you want to be. He's not much fun now but in time you will make him laugh and I know how much you will love that. It won't be too long before you can play together. I pray that you two will become best friends and always be there for each other.

It has been a great year. We are so blessed to have you in our life and be able to call you our son. I can't wait to see what the next year brings and see how much you change over the course of the year.

Happy 2nd birthday Cason! We love you!

Love, Mommy and Daddy