Road Trip!

On Saturday we drove to Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas to watch my brother Michael play football in his homecoming game. He will be graduating in December and this was the last time we would get to watch him play. He did awesome! Unfortunately, his team lost in the last seconds of the game-literally. But it was exciting nonetheless!

It was a lot of fun watching Judah and Levi spend time with their Uncle Michael too. Hopefully, after he graduates they will get to see more of him.

The boys did better than expected with the crazy schedule and long car trip - it is 5 1/2 hours if you drive it straight through. We left at 6:30 am on Saturday and got to my brother's house at 12:30. Then we turned around and left Sunday at 12:00 or so and didn't get back to our house until 8:00 pm. They were such troopers! They were very happy on the way up there-sleeping, talking and playing. They both slept like champs on Saturday night and then Sunday, they did great all the way until about Greenville. At that point, they had pretty much had all they could handle of the car-but who could blame them?

Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Going to eat at chilis-I love this picture! It's like looking at Tiny Tim and the Jolly Green Giant!

This is the best shot I could get of both boys with their uncle!

Judah learning how to kick the football

In other recent news...here are the new happenings of the Martinez boys.

Judah

* has recently turned into Linus from Charlie Brown! He has taken to a particular blankie that a friend from my last job made from him. He insists on dragging it around the house for a good part of the day, sitting on the couch with it covering him and his Mickey Mouse and today, he even wanted to take it on our stroller walk with us-I said no to his dismay!

* spent about 20 minutes today following Stevie around the house saying "papa"-he decided that was his new favorite word today.

* likes to wear sunglasses on his head like his daddy does when he's indoors

* dances to music in the car by bobbing his head up and down as if he is kickin it gansta style (see video clip)

* thinks he can pick Levi up as well as sit on him straddle style while Levi is playing on his back on the playmat- this is a little scary for us!

* now weighs 24 lbs and is officially back on the charts again-the 10th percentile!

Levi

* got his first haircut (see picture below)! He took it like a champ-not a single tear!

* loves to try to talk - a lot-he's been making all kinds of noise lately!

* likes to sit in the Bumbo seat and play with toys on the tray

* is still trying super hard to roll over - he just usally gets stuck on his side with his legs pulled up to a pike position

* let's out big belly laughs when we tickle him-I LOVE it!

* weights in over 15 lbs and is in the 50-60th percentile!

Family Update

I'm sure most would agree, there is something about the Fall season that makes life busy! Since mid September, we have had every weekend booked with something going on and that is the basic jist of our calendar until December. In the midst of all of the busyness, Stevie, Judah and I all managed to get sick-Stevie with a severe head cold, Judah a double ear infection and me, a nasty stomach virus. Thank God Levi has been well!

Here we are on Stevie's 29th birthday-that's the day we all got sick:( But his birthday was fun!

I can't believe how fast new things are happening with the boys every day! Here is a rundown of the most recent Martinez boys movings and groovings!

Levi

1. Still loves getting his diaper changed.

2. Thinks it is hilarious when we change his clothes.

3. Has recently started letting out some big time belly laughs!

4. Now likes the pacifier and has figured out how to get it out of his mouth using his hands. He is currently working on putting it back in.

5. Is working really hard to turn over on his belly. He is so close!

6. Loves playing "papas" (pattycake in Spanish)

7. Loves it when we pull him up to standing.

8. Tries really hard to sit up from the laying down position.

9. Is a pretty good napper-takes a good hour or so nap in the am, usually a long (1 1/2-3 hour) nap in the middle of the day, and some cat naps in the afternoon.

10. Thank goodness he moved his bedtime back to just about the same as Judah's now.

11. Is eating like a champ and putting on weight to prove it!

Here is his 3 month pic-but he'll be 4 months in just a week and a half or so!

Judah

1. Is increasing his vocabulary each week. Favorite words currently "Lee-I" (for Levi), "bye" (which he emphatically states while waving his hand to you-he was intent on letting one of the gardeners at the arboretum know we were leaving yesterday as he told him bye approximately 5 times and waved with each "bye"), "no"-a toddler's favorite word, "mama", "papa", "mimi" (night-night in Spanish), "toodles"-still LOVES Mickey Mouse, and most recently "Judah" has resurfaced as well!

2. Is in FULL BLOWN toddler mode. He is climbing and jumping off everything basically-as you can tell from the carpet burn on his nose in the pictures below. He has also discovered the fun in opening and closing any door he pleases, turning on and off all water faucets-outdoors ones included, flushing the toilets, pushing chairs close to things he wants to climb up onto-like the kitchen island, climbing onto the sofa to slide off it or jump off of it-and that's just to begin with. Another great things about toddler mode is his newfound desire to dictate exactly what he will eat and when he will eat it. He likes to tell me no often and then proceed to point out to me just exactly what his palette is so desiring at that moment.

3. Can we say independent? Judah wants to do things his way and on his own-mostly. Recently he has decided he has a mind of his own when it comes to his wardrobe. He gets frustrated with me and fights me if I try to make him wear pants as opposed to shorts. He also has a strong opinion on what shoes he wants to wear with which outfits. Recently, we received some pumpkin houseshoes that rattle for him from a neighbor. He wore them today out with Stevie with his normal clothes because he wouldn't have it any other way. He is also wearing them in bed right now as I write this! He also now believes he can make the call as to when bathtime is over with. I bathe them together-a lot of work sometimes-and tonight as I was getting Levi out and taking him to lotion him up, diaper him and clothe him, I hear Judah tell me "ya" which means basically "done" or "enough" in Spanish. He then climbed out of the bathtub and proceeded to go around the house naked until I was freed up to diaper and clothe him as well!

4. A great toddler behavior Judah has been exhibiting lately is his helpfullness. He has gotten good at helping me pick things up that fall, throw things away, take care of Levi and such. He likes to try to help me sweep, throw Levi's diapers in the diaper genie, wipe Levi's face when he spits up and hand him toys and his pacifier to make him happy (although he has also turned into the pacifier robber as well lately)!

The two brothers together....

Who would have known that at such an early point Judah and Levi would be such great brothers to each other! It has really suprised me the extent to which they already interact. Levi LOVES any attention Judah gives him. He smiles really big and kicks his arms in legs with excitement when Judah is around. He watches his every move so carefully as well. Judah loves paying attention to Levi. He tries to console him when he cries and he hands him toys to play with. He also loves kissing him. Tonight he did two really cute things. I had Levi on the couch sitting up and Judah climbed up to him. He grabbed his hands and started playing "papas" with him-saying it and moving Levi's hands! It was super cute! And Levi thought it was great fun as well! Then, at another point in the night, Judah got my phone, saw a picture of Levi on it and gave it a big fat kiss!

I am so in love with these two boys! They bring Stevie and me so much joy it is pratically indescribable. God has been SO GOOD to us! His blessings are amazing and I can only imagine how the love we feel in this home will just blossom more and more with each child that we lovingly accept and bring into this world with God's help!

Remedial blogger

OK so it's no big surprise that I suck at "blogging". I had a suspicion going into this that it could be the case. Honestly, I'd be a little shocked if anyone reads this entry for a while because they probably haven't visited my blog in weeks (maybe months) since I post entries at the rate of a tortoise. Please accept my apologies. I've come to the conclusion that sometimes to my demise, I live too much "in the moment". Normally, that is a good thing, and for the most part, I am perfectly happy living as such. I really try to savor each and every moment with my husband, children and family. The problem is, that sometimes, I am living so much in the moment that I don't make myself do things like take pictures, record with the camera, or in this case record my life on the blog. I guess I just get wrapped up in what I'm doing and when I even stop to think about taking pictures, taking video or blogging, I think to myself I might miss out on the actual moment because I'm too caught up in getting the "best shot" or writing the wittiest words. Unfortunately, if I do not get better at this, my kids will have to depend more on my memory of their childhood than pictures and that is a scary thing! My memory is not the best! So here are a few pictures I have actually taken lately of my handsome boys-all three of them!!!



At our Halloween Party-Stevie, the pirate, Judah, the mariachi (not a happy one at the moment so you don't see his sombrero on), and Levi as Nacho Libre







Judah loves wearing his sunglasses in the car!







Levi at 3 months-he looks like such a big boy already!