Farmin it

Trying to get Chase to hold still for a picture is next to impossible. Take note, as this will be a recurring theme in the next few posts.

Run, run, run!

At least Mama didn't plop me down next to a cornstalk like she did my brother...

Wow, it's much farther down to Mama than I thought. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. How do I make it stop Daddy?

The red hat really brings out those baby blues, doesn't it?

Which pumpkin should I pick? Doesn't really matter since I'm just going to treat it like a ball and kick it over and over again.

Up next, Halloween play date pictures followed by Halloween evening pictures. Lots of eye candy coming your way for shizzle.

Time flies

Cox Farm October 2006

Cox Farm October 2007

Cox Farm October 2008

Stay tuned for more farm pictures and a couple new wish list items.

I'm a big girl now

Miss Amaya is a jolly soul who is quick with her smiles and quite attentive with her big blue eyes. It is not unusual to hear her giggling several times throughout the day. But, I have to tell you, this girl is a weed. A cute weed like a dandelion or buttercup, but a weed nonetheless. We can't get over how long the child is. It's crazy. Amaya herself is quite certain that we have grossly miscalculated her true age of 3 months as she is more inclined to believe that she is at least 6 months old. She tries to convince us of her maturity by demanding to stand up all of the time. If she's lying down, she tries to crawl away. Unless she's on her playmat, then she pushes, pulls and bats at all of the dangling toys. She's even decided that she's getting too old for the pacifier as her sucking apparatus of choice is now her own little fists. She slobbers on them so much that they're chapped from the abuse.

To further prove her advanced intellect, little bean is pursuing a degree in big brother studies. She'll stare at him intensely and then start waving her arms in the air while cooing for his attention. You can tell that she wants to do everything he does and be just like him. Unlike her older sibling though, she is still agreeable to my picking her clothes out for her. And didn't I do a good job?

It's getting to be that time again...

you know, when everyone and their sister starts asking me what I want for the holidays? So, here is installment number one of things that Mellon would like to have wrapped and handed to her this December. To avoid any confusion, if you plan on purchasing this item please leave a comment saying so--that way I don't have to give everyone even more ideas b/c you're all afraid that someone already bought the ones that I post online. This gift idea bonanza is a free service provided by yours truly; however, donations of chocolate are always welcome.

This little beauty is a Keurig 5060 27-Cup-Capacity K-Cup Spinning Carousel. It can be found at Amazon, or they also have them at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I do have a $10 off at $30 coupon you can use if you have other needs from the BBB. Just shoot me an email if you want it. :-)Stay tuned for more additions to the list...

I'm a big boy now!

This kid
has his own opinion about everything these days. I've already mentioned the fight over getting dressed every morning. But since it's my blog, you'll just have to bear with me as I once again reiterate this particular point. Daily, I must parade before him a show of 5-10 shirts before he finally picks one that is deemed worthy of being worn. Then during nap time, he'll decide that his shirt is "dirty". So he'll take it off and throw it in the hamper. Don't try to get him to put that shirt back on though because like the child said, "it's dirty". Thus the process repeats itself as I once again have to persuade him to put a top on. The conversation goes like this:

Mama: How about the dinosaur shirt Chase? You like dinosaurs.
Chase: No, diosuars
Mama: What about your Rock N Roll shirt? Cool dude.
Chase: No ro n roll
Mama: Monkey shirt? ee ee oo oo ah
Chase: No Monkey.
Mama: Look Chase Orange Stripe shirt.
Chase: No ipes
Mama: I found the plane shirt. Zoom zoom.
Chase: No pwane
Mama: Are you feeling like a puppy pirate today?
Chase: No woof woof.
Mama: Chase, you have to wear a shirt.
Chase: No shirt. No jeans.
Mama: Are you sure you don't want to wear the Dinosaur shirt?
Chase: OK!
Mama: Really? You're not teasing me are you?
Chase: OK!

Clothes aren't the only thing that he must approve of before use. For example, every day finds a new color of sippy cup that is acceptable for juice containment. Today it was the green one that he wanted in the morning. So, when we were leaving for dinner tonight, I felt pretty proud of myself for remembering to pack a green cup in the diaper bag. Once at the restaurant, I triumphantly pulled it from my bag only to be met with a litany of chants of the "No green one" variety. I just can't win.

I'm sure that when you looked at the above picture, your first thought was that the child is desperately needing a haircut. That's what I thought too, so off he went with Drew to Cartoon Cuts. He was such a little man sitting in the chair all by himself. I am sure that his good behavior has little to nothing to do with the bribery cars that his daddy gave him before the outing.

I don't really enjoy tummy time all that much Mama

So put that darn camera away already!

Give me a Z

I came across a little news blurb about Zima the other day. It seems that Coors recently stopped making the clear beer. Actually, according to Wikipedia it wasn't a beer but an alcopop--whatever that is. I feel for the underage drinkers out there who must now be in a state of mourning at the loss of the alcohol that they could openly drink while claiming it was 7-Up. Well, I guess there's still Vodka, but that doesn't go down quite as smoothly. And it's not carbonated. Forget I mentioned it.

Point, must get to the point which is this: whenever I hear the word Zima, I always think of my friend Amy. Here's Amy:

No, Amy was not really a big Zima drinker, so why do I think of her when I hear the word? Well, let me take you back, way back, back into time--perhaps to the summer of 1997 or maybe 1998. One of those 90's summers. Amy and I, and a few others headed up to Coca Cola Starlake Amphitheater (which has since changed it's name) to rock out at X-fest. Before the concert, we were tailgating with our skittles and Zimas when some drunk guy who could be the poster child for tools everywhere came over and started hitting on us. Amy being the clown she is was actually attempting to engage this guy in conversation. All of the sudden, he asks why we're drinking Zimas. Amy gives some reply and offers him one. He declines using the following phrase which will forever be burned into my brain:

"No, man. Zima makes you Im-pee-tent"

We should have force-fed him some and spared women everywhere.

There's a chill in the air.

This is what Amaya looked like after I got her ready for our trip to David and Danielle's yesterday afternoon. But before we left she had to eat, so I took her sweater off so she wouldn't spit up on it. When she was done feasting on her formula, Andy put her in her car seat and away we went.


This is what she had on when we arrived at D&D's. Hmmm. Something's missing. What could it be? Perhaps weather appropriate attire? Apparently, dear Drew never concerned himself with wondering what a baby was doing going out in brisk fall weather in a camisole...men!

At least Aunt Danielle was there to keep her warm.
Some extra hair on the head will go a long way toward maintaining one's body temperature at a comfortable level.
Don't worry about my head since I've got Nate's helmet to keep me toasty up there. I am the new kitchen floor hockey champion by the way. But don't turn your back on the little guy, cause he'll shoot the puck right on by you when your back is turned.

And then he'll run right over ya with his Wii car while your own son smiles in the background.

Abrakadoodle Noodle

Chase went to his Abrakadoodle class today. For those of you who are wondering what on earth I am talking about, Abrakadoodle is kind of like the Gymboree of art classes. Each session has 4 to 5 weekly classes that are each 45 minutes long. During this time, the budding artists participate in circle time, create their masterpieces, and then share their art during gallery time. Then everyone goes home with his very own framed orginal. It's a pretty neat class, and Chase just loves going.

Today's lesson was painting with fruits and vegetables. Not painting pictures of fruits and vegetables, but rather actually putting paint onto celery, lettuce and apples and then applying it to the canvas. Being the messy kid he is, Chase was well suited for this particular project. While most of the other kids were very carefully stamping their carrots on the paper being certain to keep all of the colors pure, Chase was busy smearing paint from corner to corner. He quickly discovered that his fingers would do a much better job of blending all of the bright primary colors into a lovely shade of brown. Given his hands on approach, it wasn't long before the kid and the mom were both covered in paint. Straight into the wash went those clothes; I sure hope it was the washable kind of paint.



Here's my little artist showing off his one-of-a-kind design. He's pretty proud of the orange pumpkin in the upper right hand corner. I'm not sure if that is what he originally intended the orange blob to be, but when Miss Lori asked him if it was a Halloween Pumpkin, Noodle quickly agreed and has been yammering about it ever since.

Little bundle of joy

Press play to see the little surprise Amaya shares with me 50-60 times a day.

Oh Mama, how could you share such an unflattering video? I'm so embarassed.

Don't you press play again...don't do it. I'm telling you, I'll unleash my crazy eyes on you if you play that video again!

Time to move!

So far today, Chase has thrown a kicking, screaming fit when I've tried to put on his diaper, his pants, his shirt, his socks and his shoes. What should only have taken five minutes ended up taking 20 because of the wrestling match that ensued. Therefore, I am beginning to think that it's time that we relocate to a nudist colony where it's quite normal to let a kid run around completely bare arsed. Then again, the child also indulged in tantrum-like behavior when I brushed his teeth and washed the spaghetti sauce off of his hands, so it would have to be a nudist colony that is lax on personal hygiene. Which when you think about it is actually really gross, so I guess we'll stay put. Besides, the pictures below wouldn't be nearly as cute if everyone in them was buck nekkid.

On the ride to the farm, Chase couldn't stop talking about seeing the cows and hearing them say Moo. So, I'm glad the trip didn't disappoint and there were in fact a few cows to be seen. He did not enjoy the horse though. He was very afraid of them even though they were in their stalls in the barn. He has since repeated over and over again, "No black horse". Guess he won't be a jockey after all.

Come here little goat...I want to pet your furry hide.

Why doesn't the goat want to play with me, mama why?



Amaya does not yet appear to be as much of a country kid as her brother. She seems much more city in her demeanor. hee hee.