Honestly

Could my boys be ANY cuter?

Get this one a job as a model cause the camera loves him.

Sorry- I might be boasting and a bit bias but Honestly who wouldn't love this face?

These are the photos from the Big family photo shoot we did a couple of weeks ago.

Our family (tell me truthfully: which do you like better?):

Oh yeah- by the way here's the whole gang:

Oma's House

Went up to Oma's House today. Lucius has only gotten to spend time with Oma once briefly at the hospital the day after he was born. Oma's been sick lately, but has finally been feeling better. AND we all really miss her, hence the trip up to visit.

Oma bought Oliver a new book (pictured here) and as it was being handed to him daddy asked "Oliver what do you say?". Oliver replied "Great Job!". Not exactly the two words daddy meant but it sure made us all smile.

Adventure Day

It's been awhile but we took a Family Adventure, so today it was off to the Zoo. I remember taking Oliver to the Zoo when he was little and he LOVED the Aquariums. Lucius didn't get quite the one on one attention that Oliver received but we all had a ton of fun chasing Oliver around to all the exciting exhibits.

They don't have dolphin shows anymore but we did get a chance to watch the dolphins play with their basketballs. The Boys watched the Otters play in the waterfall and saw sharks swimming in the deep blue water.

Whats so funny?

Is that a smile I see or is it some silly smirk that says:

"I'm going to be trouble, just you wait and see!"

Wiped out and propped up

It's just about 8:30pm- do you know whose bed your kids are past out on? Do you know how many pillows Auntie Em has for Oliver's use?

He takes after his daddy who has three pillows on his side of the bed.

On the flip side

Oh this is a cute story from yesterday:

We needed to be down to the Church before 2:30pm for pictures but it was getting close to Two and Oliver was still napping. We decided to go in and wake him up, he'd been sleeping 2 hours already. Daddy and I walked into his room, lovingly whispered in his ear to wake up. Oliver rolled over and in his very sad not quite whining voice said

"Still Sleeping?"

Awe. Okay buddy, you can have five more minutes to sleep. That was the first time he'd said that to us.

A ring bearer

Marmee's cousin Aaron got married today. Congratulations Bride and Groom we hope you'll be very happy.

Aaron asked Oliver if he would be the ring bearer in his wedding. A little tiny Tuxedo was tried on and rented. Oliver was not liking the Tux jacket too much, but Marmee hid a few surprises in the pockets and made a few extra promises. He's hands down the cutest, most adorable little man in a Tuxedo.

Oliver's cousin Danya was the Flower girl racing down the aisle after Oliver. I believe Daddy told Oliver to run down and give Aaron a high five. And that he did- he ran down to Great Auntie Melanie who said "can you go give Aaron a high five?". He pondered weather or not to venture up front and finally decided he could probably give the groom a slap on the hand: some one needed to. He did such an AWESOME job today- I'm SO proud of him.

A few other especially terrific photos from the day:


(You can thank Cousin Jenny for the huge "war paint" looking scratch on Lucius' cheek)
I can't be mad at her cause he did it himself, plus she held him while I was attempting to take the video of Oliver walking down the aisle. So, seriously: THANK YOU JENNY!... and Melanie and auntie Mick and everyone else for watching our kids for us today.

one on one time

Oliver and I left Lucius at home with Daddy, while we ran over to the Library this morning.

It's the first time we've been able to go out just the two of us. I doubt we were gone more than 45 minutes but what blast to be able to pick out books, play with "new" puzzles and share time together.

I Love you Oliver! I know I've been spending TONS of time holding Lucius or feeding him. I really want get better at carving out time in my days spend with you alone. You are such a silly kid and I miss you some days when I forget to cuddle or play with you- for which I am extremely sorry.

If I Had a Super Power...

Guest editorial:

One the best games in the world is the "If I had a Super Power" game (Copyright 2009 Jerimy J. Grafenstein all rights reserved).

Basically it is this. If I was a super hero what would my super power be? This isn't an imaginary power, like flying or invisibility, no it is a real power. For instance, if no one knits better than you then that could be your super power (though it is lame). The real trick is to find something that isn't really all that cool but you know your better at it. Such as "the guy who always manages to get the extra slice, or two. of pizza" when you go out and split a pie. Someone else may have "the ability to suck the fun out of the room" or "drama queen lady", you get the idea. Your power is something that you may not really be all that proud of, but you do it so damn well that you can't help it.

For instance. In my illustrious life I have held many super power titles. Some of them include (but are not limited too...)

"Animosity Man"

"Know it all dude" (not in a good way either, wait do I still possess this one...?)

"Doesn't return phone calls guy"

or even

"Do it my way or never man!"

But now that I am getting on in years I come to find my real super power, despite what I always had thought I come to learn my new name.

"The Burper"

yes, no one, not even my loving wife, can get the baby to burp. The same was true of Oliver. No one but me that is. It's true, after all that longing and searching I come to find I can burp babies with the best of em. Sigh. Well we all need a skill I guess, I wonder if I can get paid for this?

Anyway,with that I shall leave you with what will become my wonderful tag line (certainly not ripped off from an 80's TV show)

"In 2007 (Three years ago), a crack commando was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn't commit. This man promptly escaped from a maximum-security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, he survives as a soldier of fortune. If you have a problem...if no one else can help...and if you can find him...maybe you can hire...The Burper!"

Sleeping is Wonderful

Lucius is 4 weeks old today. That's one whole month. We're finally starting to get used to each other and have some semblance of a routine- if you can call it that.

Last night for a one month present we were gifted with a wonderful nights rest. For someone especially fond of sleeping, I never thought I'd be one calling this "wonderful" but it was:

9:30pm- I've just finished reading a good book for about an hour on the couch with Lucius sleeping on my chest. "never wake a sleeping baby" is a motto I respect and try to follow so instead of moving him, I put my book down and closed my eyes to rest.

10:34pm- Lucius wakes up hungry. I feed him change him and we're both in bed sometime after 11pm.

1:55am- Feed Lucius, change his diaper, feed him a little more and we're back in bed by 2:20am. Thank heavens I've been blessed with two super fast speed eaters!

4:30am- I awake to crying, but it's not Lucius it's Oliver. Had to fully wake up to figure that one out. Change Oliver's wet diaper and tell him it's time to go back to sleep. He knows he's got me up and he's ready to talk so before I leave the room he tells me that he'd like Morfar and/or Frosty to play Blocks. He wasn't very specific as to weather they'd be playing with him or not. Silly kid- it's time for sleeping.

5:30am- Lucius is hungry, surprise! And AGAIN at 7:20am he's awake and waiting to eat.

8:20am- Oliver's slept in and Daddy goes in to turn on the light and tell him he's free to move about his room, playing with books and blocks.

9:30am- We hear Oliver "Daddy Downstairs Fruit Snack Snack" which is just one saying to help us know he is now finished playing all by himself and ready for company and his breakfast.

Lucius sleeps till 10am at which point I've already had a lovely warm shower and enjoyed my own breakfast.

Little Misters

Daddy's been having Oliver help him empty the dishwasher lately.
He's loving being a big helper. He thrives on his new found responsibility.


Lucius received a hand me down baby swing from a friend. He's been chillin' in it most of the day. It's been quite handy, because in my arms he either wants to eat or scream. In the swing he loves watching his brother and sleeping. Never thought I'd love having a giant baby apparatus in our small house, but I do today.

Oliver loves the fact there's more buttons in the house to push. He is very much into exploring new things whenever they come into the house and figuring out how they work.

family photo shoot out takes

Auntie Mick organized a extended family photo shoot with a very lovely photographer while all my sisters were in one city. I offered the historic old building the company I work for has its office in. We had wonderful light, plenty of young child energy, amazing backdrops, and prefect weather.

With 4 kids under 3 and 10 adults... there's bound to be a few crazy out takes. I pulled my camera out to capture a few candid shots.

Lucius was enjoying a little time with Mormor, after a nice diaper change. "Hey look a hand", wow sweet!

Thanks Mick Mick for organizing this photo shoot. Can't wait to see the photos in a couple of weeks.

(Ps. Notice the first shot with all 4 grandkids- they're lined up in age order. It wasn't planned I just noticed it as I was getting ready publish this post. Crazy cool!)

Moses Baskets

We went over to Auntie Em's house to play with Cousin Brianna. Of course, she didn't feel too much like playing with the little misters. But Lucius and Brianna sure looked mighty cute in their moses baskets.

Ps. Oliver's got a "favorite" song these days... We've been singing Happy Birthday to just about anything and everyone (Books, Closet, Bunny, Marmee, Daddy, Lucius, Oliver, Bottles, etc.) The best one was "Marmee sing happy birthday Nestor (the) Christmas donkey song"

Night Owl

It's official- we have a Night Owl in the house and his name is Lucius Finn. He sleeps terrific during the day, eating about every 3-4 hours. 9pm comes around and he's interested in eating every 2 hours, fuss for a while after eating and then sleep for an hour. Making Marmee quite tired, and a bit of a Monster. (I'm NOT a morning person, like Oliver, and I'm not a Night Owl... I've always been a Middle of the Day kind of person)

Thankfully this is temporary and we should soon be on more of a normal schedule. Plus he is so super adorable that I can't help but continue snuggling and loving him.

Haircut

Daddy went to the store to buy a new pair of clippers for hair cutting. I don't think he was home for more than ten minutes before Oliver was up in a chair getting his first official haircut. (I trimmed the back of his hair this summer).

Looking pretty good Mister Oliver!
(that's his "happy Face")

Playdate Parade

The little misters and I went to "Michael and David's House" today and we saw "Lolli dog" (aka. Molly dog) there. I love heading South to visit with my friend Rachel and her kids. Oliver LOVED playing with people his own size and thoroughly enjoyed finding all kinds of new toys. This mess is completely all Oliver's doing. He wanted to make sure he saw everything there was to see in all those boxes of toys.

I found this Play date Parade rather amusing- Nothing says a "we're having a great time" than a boy with a shotgun chasing a shopper, and a little mother pushing her baby.

At one point there was a guitar player as well but I think he was grew tired of running around in circles.

I know you've been curious

A little video to show you the brother interaction.

Oliver for the most part forgets Lucius is even around. He will sometimes remind me to change Lucius's poopy diaper. He gives baby Lucius a kiss and talks to him on occasion. The second morning we were home Oliver came in to say good morning to Lucius and I. He peered into the bassinet, stared at the new baby for a couple moments, then turned to Jerimy and said "cute nose!". I'm not sure where he heard that or if it just came out of his smarty pants brain- but it was priceless and utterly adorable.

A little bit of everything

How is it that we've only added one person to the family but I feel that I've got four times the amount of stories/ photos to share?

Lucius has been pleasantly surprising us, we expected (were preparing for) a little monster because we were blessed with such an easy kid like Oliver. Baby Lucius has been sleeping most of the time but occasionally we get to see his wonderfully watchful eyes.

Oliver got a art easel for Christmas from us and we opened it today to do a little artwork.

has it really been two years?

We're not huge into celebrating on Oliver actual birthday- we've been celebrating Half Birthdays in the summer. But Mormor and Morfar stopped by the house yesterday to drop off a few new books and a birthday card.

More fun than getting new books was getting stories read by Mormor. Oliver loves to show off all his new toys and having people come over so there's more of us to boss around.

We love you Oliver. Can't believe it's been two years already and that you've grow so much! Marmee and Daddy think you're pretty amazing.

Ps... did I forget to mention

My Younger Sister (aka Auntie Em) had her baby on December 29, 2009- six days after Lucius was born. They were the exact same weight and length: crazy. My Little Misters got to meet their new cousin briefly on Thursday when she came home from the hospital. Lucius "meeting" Brianna:

Oliver sneaking in to see the two babies
(aka those little crying things that steal every one's attention away from me)