Jensen is 11 months and Marbles Museum

As I have mentioned before, Liesel has really shown much more of an interest in playing with dolls lately. In fact, I had packed up a lot of baby doll toys in a box in the attic to eventually sell when we were "for sure" done having kids and no more girls. We are done....LOL.....but Liesel wanted to get the stuff out. OH MY!!! One Saturday Liesel was playing away with all these dolls. Next thing I see, Liesel had put our Baby Bjorn on Caedmon with a doll in it and told him this was his doll to take care of. Now most brothers would probably not go along with this. Maybe since Caedmon is younger than Liesel he is more willing, but he played right along and had fun. Liesel had four dolls, a baby swing, bouncy seat and carrier she was carrying her dolls around with. At one point Caedmon says to her in typical Caedmon way: "Wow, I am glad I only have one doll to carry around and this thing on my stomach to help me so I can still do stuff. You have so many babies and so much to take with you when you go somewhere." Isn't is so typical of us women to have too much stuff and not simplify? HA! Here is a picture I got of Caedmon and he was not happy I got the shot.

By the way, on another note, I do not let my son go out in public with that shirt and shorts on. He picks out his own clothes now. He can justify how things match. Caedmon: "Stripes and Stripes match right?" Mommy: "Not most of the time Caedmon, they clash!" It is funny to watch. He also thinks he has to match the color of his underwear with his clothes. I do not know why he started that idea. LOL! Maybe one day I will be able to let him go out dressed like that and not worry what people think :)
The other day I got out some of Caedmon and Liesel's old toys for Jensen to play with now that he is getting older. Caedmon was so excited, he played with them more than Jensen did. Here is Caedmon playing intensely with the new toys.

One of the toys we got out was that ball popper. Jensen loves playing with balls. When the balls came popping out fast the first time, he was so upset that he could not grab them. It was so funny to watch. He is now more comfortable with the new toy. I will add the video to another blog post.

Jensen turned 11 months September 4th. To do something fun that day, we took the kids to Marbles Museum in downtown Raleigh. I am sure Jensen did not even know what was going on most of the time but he enjoyed himself. Later on after dinner, the fact that he missed his afternoon nap because of the museum was very evident. I will just leave it at that! We have not been to Marbles Museum in forever. I think Liesel was four years old and Caedmon has never been. It is a children's museum with so many fun things to do that I am sure we will be going back again soon. I will talk about that later in the post.
Jensen is now crawling everywhere much faster than he was. He has a second tooth that just came in. He is clapping and he likes to pass stuff to people. So if you are sitting next to him he will pass/share his toys with you. Last night we were sitting on the floor playing when he grabbed my water bottle. He passed it to me and I said thank you. He then wanted it back. We ended up passing the bottle back and forth to each other about 20 times and he laughed and smiled so much. Can someone tell me why we bother buying toys? HaHa!!! Water bottles are so much cheaper. LOL!  It has been fun to watch how much more interactive he is with Caedmon and Liesel. When they are coming towards him, he gets so excited. He babbles to them to get their attention. They make a sound and he repeats it. Soon he is going to be running around chasing them through the house wanting to play with his big brother and sister.
Marbles Museum was very fun. It is a great place for kids to creatively play which is what Liesel and Caedmon really love to do.I have included some pictures of the fun day.

Liesel's three favorite things to do there was shopping, cooking and being a patient on crutches. Shopping and cooking is understandable because she is a girl :) However, Liesel has shown an interest for a while in crutches. I guess she thinks they are cool. A few years ago she actually asked for crutches and a wheelchair for her "my twin" doll. She finds things around the house to be "pretend" crutches. She even suggests to her friends when they are playing that she should be on crutches and also have braces. Wow! I was on crutches for a sprained ankle in college.  I also had braces late in life, actually when I was pregnant with Liesel and beyond. Neither one of them are fun. LOL! When Liesel found those crutches at the museum, she was so excited and walked around on them until she realized it was actually kind of painful. :)

On the pirate ship, Liesel wanted to be the pirate and, no surprise, Caedmon found a game to play!!!

In the block area we found buildings that people had built before us. Caedmon asked to get in one of them. Once we put him in, we started to walk away and leave him there. We laughed....he did not! We only added to this building. I can't imagine how long it took someone else.

Caedmon and Liesel enjoyed sorting the money. If Liesel only knew she was practicing school work!

Craig and Jensen are taking a break. Wow, Jensen has a ball in his hand??? What a surprise!!! Sense the sarcasm? HaHa! He is going to play some sport when he grows up as much as he loves playing with balls. Future Tarheel? Sorry Craig! ;)

At the pizza parlor, Caedmon made me a yummy pizza. I wish I actually liked those toppings! :) It was funny watching them pretend to be pizza bike delivery people. Does that make sense? Ha! What would you call them?

 Who are these kids with the big hat?

My kids are worth more than 100 dollars. They definitely cost more than that!

Can I get a cage like this at home? LOL!!! It could come in handy sometimes!

They had a little hockey rink the kids could play on in their socks. They loved it! Me and Craig enjoyed watching them as well.....fall that is!!!. Laughter is great medicine :)
Check out Liesel's crossover move and her dance skills became evident. Wrong sport sweetie! Hockey is not that graceful! LOL!

I loved all the quotes around the rink. "You miss 100% of the shots you never take." "Caedmon, the opening to the goal is on the other side."

He SCORES!!!

A good quote from Mia Hamm: "True Champions aren't always the ones that win but those with the most guts." What else can you expect from a former Tarheel!

That looks like it hurts Caedmon!

Way to practice your slap shot with 2 pucks Little Guy!!!!

After hockey we found this fun surfing simulator. It shook back and forth. It was actually a little hard. I tried it!

Jensen got in on the fun and loved riding on his brother's back.

Caedmon had so much fun on the big train set.

Yes, Caedmon is driving the ambulance with that on his head! :)

As you can see, we had a great time and hope to go back soon!

End of Summer fun!

These past two weeks have been fun trying to squeeze in any activities we wanted to do before school started back for Liesel.
I went back through pictures to remind myself what happened. I wish I was better at taking pictures more often than I do. I found pictures the day of our anniversary. That afternoon the kids were so excited about doing something nice for us. They brought us a meal they made in the play kitchen. Craig had already left for work, so I was the only one who got to enjoy it. It was sweet. Notice the card: Liesel forget to include "Daddy" so she had to squeeze it in!

They also wanted to put on a play for Craig and I. They practiced for me a few times and even had me participate. I couldn't tell you what the play was really about because it seemed to change every few minutes. LOL! I know there were a few different plays or scenes because the characters kept changing :) Here is Caedmon as the chef:

Liesel was the waitress (I think)

Then the play changed to a cheerleader and a football player. This is where I participated. It was very thoughtful of Liesel to make the play be about NC State and UNC. She always does that and tells me often that she does not know who to cheer for :) I was the UNC fan....of course! Here are my cute children being fun. I love how Caedmon is pointing at the camera.

After they practiced the play, they were ready to show it to me and Craig. The play was a lot different from practice. HaHa! This time I did not have my camera and I wish I did. Liesel comes up with most of the ideas and Caedmon just goes along with whatever his big sister tells him to do. It is very sweet to watch how much he looks up to her. He plays Barbies with her just to be with her, but that it a whole other blog! Anyways! There was a doctor and a patient in the play. Caedmon comes out with a oven mitt from their play kitchen over his mouth and nose and a rubber band around his head to hold it up. Craig and I looked at each other and laughed. We asked them to explain and Liesel told us it was a mask that doctors wear. So funny! Why did I not have my camera and before I knew it, the oven mitt was off of his face :) He said it was hot.

Caedmon is obsessed (and I say that mildly) with playing games on Craig's phone. He is very good, I might add. His favorite game is Angry Birds. As soon as Craig walks in the door, he asks Craig for his phone. Craig often says "Glad you are happy to see me....." Good thing I do not have it on my phone or we would have to make some time limits. Here he is playing intently. Now I have proof to show him one day.

The first weekend in August, my best friend Bethany (from my childhood and still to this day) came to visit with her family. We had a blast. We laughed and giggled like we did when we were kids. Most of the time, I do not even know what we were laughing about. LOL! We have been friends since 4th or 5th grade. It just seems right and even though she lives in Charlotte and I live here, this is a friendship I will cherish forever :) I got the camera out to take some shots of our boys (minus Jensen). Here is Caedmon, Zeke and Nate (in the middle).

Since they both had on Super Hero PJ's. I asked them to make a scary/tough face and this is what we got.

When I look at this next picture, I see Bethany and I :) It makes me happy to know that our children will be friends as well. They got along so well even though they barely ever get to see each other.There are meant to be friends, just like Bethany and I.

.

Jensen turned 10 months old August 4th. Here is my note to Jensen:
Jensen, you have been such a blessing to this family these past 10 months. Here is what is happening in your life. You have one tooth. In the past few weeks, you finally have begun to eat solid food after much rejection on your part. You now love them :) Mommy is even making some homemade baby food. She is very proud of herself! You say Dada and my favorite: BLAH!! Makes us all laugh. Is life BLAH for you Jensen? HaHa.Shouldn't be in this family :) You also have begun blowing raspberries. Not so Fun! You also stick out your tongue when you are playing or trying to figure out what is going on. You are quite nosey!  MimiDaddy says you are going to be a basketball player since you act like Michael Jordan
You have not shown a desire to crawl up until the past few weeks. Lately you have been on all fours thinking about it. For a while, you have been doing what I call a backwards crawl....scooting away. I think that you have been so content sitting in one spot and/or rolling around because of the constant commotion from your older brother and sister. Today was the day you became confident to branch out of your "sitting spot" and crawled!!! Yeah! Now I have got to baby proof even more. We love you! Soon, you will be walking. OH MY!!!
Here are some sweet pictures of Jensen taking a bath and after in his towel. So Sweet!

 Nice Hair!!!

Liesel started second grade yesterday. I can't believe she is in second grade. When we walked Liesel into her class, there was a hidden picture page on her desk. Caedmon loves to do them. Liesel was unpacking her stuff when Caedmon came up to her and told her he found the first item for her. He did not want to leave because he wanted to help her finish. It was cute. Her she is on her first day.

Here are some funny things Liesel and Caedmon have said over the last month.
1. One day they were playing store. Caedmon came into Liesel's store and she said "Welcome to AcMoore." Later it became KMart. These are two stores we hardly ever go in. When Caedmon came to buy something, she asked him for his ID. He said "an idea? I have an idea."
2. It was time to clean up one afternoon before Daddy came home. I heard Caedmon tell Liesel "I don't hear you cleaning up." I did not know he was the clean up police. Ha!
3. Liesel told me that she wanted to be a Fashionist when she grew up. I am not sure what that is :)
4. Liesel has been memorizing a passage of scripture for her school this summer. In the verse it talked about the "consolation of love". Liesel still tends to say "constellation of love!" God did create the moon and stars :)
5. Caedmon asked me one day if Jensen was still zero. He wanted to know when his age would be 1 and no longer zero. I have never told him that Jensen was zero. So Cute!
6. Liesel was watching the food network with me one day. They were talking about a cooking contest. Liesel said I should enter my homemade chocolate chip cookies. They are really, really good and they are homemade. To win a contest though may be stretching it. It was very sweet that she is that proud of her mom's cooking.

Beach trip July 2011

We went to the beach with my parents about 2 weeks ago. While we were there, we celebrated my dad's birthday. We had a great time. It was Jensen's 3rd beach trip but first time where it was warm enough for him to enjoy the beach. Once we got to the ocean, Liesel and Caedmon did not waste any time getting in the water so I took advantage of the moment and took some pictures of Jensen's first time in the sand.
Jensen: "Ohh, what is that loud thing behind me?"

I got them all to sit for one picture....

I love making pictures black and white. It makes me stop and take in the moment.

I love this picture of Jensen with Craig and the kids in the background.

Jensen was very determined to not wear a hat. He kept taking it off.

I won getting the hat to stay on for a little bit at least. I sat Jensen in the water right where the waves were just getting his feet. I sat with him the whole time. Unfortunately I missed one coming in and it hit him right in the face pretty good. He got his first taste of sand and salt water. He did not like it and wanted to be held only.

Caedmon is so content in the ocean. He likes sitting where the waves break and chasing them. After two days, he said he did not want to go back to ocean and would rather stay at the pool. I was surprised so I asked him why and he said "because I do not like getting sand RIGHT THERE...it hurts!!" I will let you imagine where he pointed...HA!

Liesel loves to pose in the ocean.

One of my favorite things to do at the beach is to be out there when the sun is setting and enjoy that beautiful atmosphere. I also like to take pictures during that time....what a surprise :)
As soon as I put Jensen down in the sand he got really upset. I think he remembered how last time he got soaked. Liesel and Caedmon tried to comfort him. It was so sweet! See the look one his face :(

I was able to calm him down.....getting out of the sand worked......

Liesel and Caedmon are so fun and easy to take pictures of.

Jensen got the hang of it......sort of...LOL!

My nail polish was scented "beach" flavor. How perfect!

My sweet kids!

Here is a picture of my mom, me and Liesel. I love my mom!

After taking a few pictures, this is the best shot we have of the Berry Family on the beach........
I love Liesel's pose!

The kids decided to cover up Craig's legs :)

I love how Liesel sneaks into this picture....so cute!

One of the mornings we were on the beach, there was a professional photographer taking pictures of a young couple in love. I enjoyed watching the stuff the photographer had them do. It was so sweet. My dad and husband on the other hand were making jokes towards the end of their session. They said they are going to wonder when they get their pictures back who the people in their pictures are(US!!) I sure hope they are going to have the computer take the family with 3 kids out of their pictures. Anyways, one shot the photographer had the couple running down the beach and leaping. I thought we should try it to be funny. Liesel laughed so hard at how goofy I was being. One time we leaped into the air, I hit her in the head with my elbow. She was a good sport and got back up. Most of the pictures, I look very wierd so I will only post one of me. I told Craig I would never forgive him if he posted them on facebook. LOL! Just so you know, it is hard to look cool when you are leaping in the air. I hope the couple looked cuter than I did.

Liesel and Caedmon joined in the fun.

Craig and Liesel went to ride the SkyWheel in Myrtle Beach. It is a new ferris wheel. They were in air conditioned gondolas, I thought they said. Apparantely, there are only a handful of these ferris wheels in the world. For the record, I am terribly afraid of heights so I would not go but Liesel was so brave. She admitted to me she was a little scared. A little? I would have been freaking out!!!! I love roller coasters because I feel secure but not a ferris wheel or standing over a ledge.

We had a great beach trip. Looking forward to next year :)