Ahhs...Coos...Was that a laugh?

Lawson is becoming more and more aware all the time of what is going on around him. He looks for me when I walk away and will smile almost every time I talk to him. He has even started trying to talk (or coo) back. He does the extremely sweet, high pitched, "Ahh". I love it! He plays with his hands now, too. He will just sit there and hold them up in front of his face and stare as his little eyes cross. :)  He also loves to lay under his Play Gym and bat at the toys. Yesterday, I was talking to him and he smiled and "ahh-ed" at the same time. It was soo big, it almost sounded like a laugh. I am sure it wasn't, but it thrilled my heart. Lawson is quite a bit more demanding than Easton was, but he is every bit worth it. I am so excited to watch him grow and learn. It makes it even more fun because I know from having Easton how exciting each new phase is. I think we have reached the point now where every week he will be doing something new. I am so thankful God has blessed us with another wonderful baby boy to love. Easton loves him too (as long as Lawson isn't screaming). Easton talks to him in baby talk and will try to put the pacifier in Lawson's mouth. Easton wanted Lawson to play hide and seek in the covers the other night and I had to explain that he was still too little. I know East will be very happy when they can play together.

Where's 24?

I have been  waiting patiently for a year for the ever entertaining and thrilling, 24, to return for it's 7th season. I always remember that it starts a few weeks after American Idol(one of my other favorites), so I have been looking and looking for commercials to find out when the premiere will be. To my sadness, I found this response on the Fox 24 website.

"There is NO date at this time. As soon as the Writer's Strike is resolved, the show will go back into production and we will THEN schedule the show for air."

You may not be a 24 fan like I am, but this was very disappointing to me. I guess I will just have to wait for Hollywood to get all it's ducks in a row before I can enjoy my favorite show again. I think I may be waiting a very long time.

P.S. When we were having such a hard time finding a name for Lawson,  I told Mat to let me name him Kiefer.  Ha ha! 

Easton's Helmet

Around Halloween of last year, Easton started asking for a "helmeck". I wasn't sure what he was saying at first. I thought he was asking for a hammock. He would say, "No, a helmeck." Mat finally figured it out one night when we were watching football. He wanted a football helmet. I actually watched a lot of football this year with Mat. I was very proud of how much I learned about the game and various players. I actually enjoyed it.  That is beside the point, though. 

When we realized what it was  he was wanting, we decided we would start trying to find one his size. We went to Wal-Mart, Big Lots, Dollar Stores, and even Hibbet Sports. I  could not believe it, but we couldn't find one anywhere. Maybe they were  all bought out for Halloween, but we had no luck. The only thing we found was a Razorback whole football uniform. It was so cute, but cost too much.

Easton had to settle for just playing with his cowboy hat until Christmas. Nana and Papa found the same Razorback uniform and helmet on SALE! They bought it for him and wrapped it up. When he opened that present at Christmas, he was so excited. He pulled it out and put the helmet on and immediately started saying, "Go Razorbacks, Go Razorbacks. Go Razorbacks!" It was precious - especially in his little 2 year old voice.

He loves to dress up as a football player now. He thinks he is a big boy like the guys on TV. I just think it is so cute to see him all dressed up. 

Losing my mind

I am going to tell on myself so just get ready:

Okay, now a mother of two, I sometimes think I am losing my mind. A few weeks ago, I was helping Easton eat his Strawberry Cream Oatmeal. He was running around watching tv and playing and I was sitting on the floor next to Lawson in the swing. Whenever Easton would come by, I would stick a bite of oatmeal in his mouth. It was kind of a mindless task while I was trying to keep Lawson happy. Before I knew it, I put the spoon up to Lawson's mouth and was sticking it in. I realized what I was doing when he started spitting it out with his tongue. I quickly wiped it out with a rag and declared I had officially lost my mind. I was feeding my newborn baby Strawberry Cream Oatmeal with a spoon! What was I thinking? I was definitely sleep deprived.

If that wasn't bad enough, this past Friday I had another lapse of rational thinking. I was changing Lawson's diaper and Easton was in the room with me talking to me and asking me questions. I was trying to get the diaper on Lawson and wasn't having very good luck. When I looked down and realized what I was doing.....it was a PULL-UP! That's right, a Pull-Up. I had done it again. Lost my mind. I even had one little tiny leg in it. Keep in mind Lawson is not much bigger than the Pull-Up. It was quite a sight! I hope that is my last episode.

 I think I need more sleep. Ha ha!

Easton's First Movie

A few weeks ago we took Easton on his first trip to the movie theater. We saw "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything" - a VeggieTales movie. Easton loves the VeggieTales and watches them at home all the time. He also loves pirates. He goes around singing the pirate song from the Backyardagains cartoon all the time. "A pirate, a pirate, a pirate says 'arhgg' " In fact, today he was playing pirate and he told me that he was "Pirate Easton" and I was "Captain Momma". That is his new thing - giving us all names depending on what he is pretending at the time. For instance when he is a super-hero, he is Super Easton and we are Super Momma and Super Daddy. Anyway, I have gotten way off subject - which, as you know, is not the least bit unusual.

Easton loved the whole movie experience. I think he may have loved the popcorn or "pa-corn" more than the actual movie though. He was chowing down! I had to actually take the popcorn bucket away a few times and let him take a break. I was afraid he was gonna get a tummy ache. He watched the movie really good for the most part. He may have been a bit bored because he had Mat take him to the bathroom around 3 times. By the end of the movie, he was ready to get up and go again. He has talked about the movie several times since. He says, 

"Momma, remember when we saw that big pirate movie, momma, remember?" Yes, Easton. "Momma, remember when we ate pa-corn, momma, remember?"

I am so glad that we took him and he had a good time. Thanks to my mom for keeping Lawson so Mat and I could have a date with Easton. What wonderful, fun memories! I know Pirate Easton won't forget it anytime soon.

Movin' Up to More Hand-Me-Downs

I spent a large part of the evening last night going through Easton and Lawson's clothes. We have been very blessed to be able to use hand-me-down clothes from my brother's two boys, Isaiah and Grant. Grant and Easton are exactly one year apart so the season of clothes has been perfect for them to be passed down. Katie just gives me a box when her boys grow out of it and I give it back to her when Easton grows out of it. It works great!! I am so thankful that we have been able to use some of their clothes. It has certainly cut down on the shopping. But you know me, we can't cut out shopping altogether. Easton has successfully accumulated several boxes of his own. So, I have saved all of Easton's clothes by size for the next baby. And...since the next baby was a boy, here we go with hand-me-downs...again. 

I love getting out Easton's baby clothes and remembering how small he was. Looking at certain clothes, I can remember Easton wearing them and places we went and sweet things he did. It is really special to see Lawson now wearing some of his big brother's clothes. Although the season's are off, there are a few things (like sleepers) that work. 

Lawson weighed 12 lb 2 oz at his 2 month visit to the doctor. He said he was around the 50-55th percentile. But surprisingly, he was only 22 in. long - around the 25th percentile. He was starting to out-grow the newborn clothes, so last night I went ahead and got out the 3-6 month clothes. It was exciting to go through more clothes, but it just reminded me again how fast things change and how quickly they grow up. Even though I know it will be easier on me when Lawson gets a little bigger, I don't want to wish away these sweet infant days. I know it won't be long before I am packing away clothes again and movin' up for another box of hand-me-downs.

New to This

Well, I have wanted to do this for a while, but just finally decided it was time. I have been worrying for quite sometime wondering if I am documenting enough of Easton and Lawson's new developments. I am not much of a scrap-booker, so I am hoping this will be my way of journaling what is happening in our lives. I guess this blog is for me more than anything else. I just want to be able to look back and read sweet and special things that the boys did. I wish I had started this when Easton was born 2 1/2 years ago, but better late than never, right?

I hope that whoever reads this blog will enjoy the stories and updates on our kids. I am just like any other proud parent who thinks that most everything their kids do is precious. With a 2 1/2 year old and a 9 week old, my time is very limited. My goal is to update at least once a week. We will see.... 

To get up to date...

Easton is 2 1/2 and a bundle of

 joy. He has a very sweet personality and keeps us

 laughing all the

 time. He has a very large vocabulary and says some of the cutest things. Lawson is 9 weeks old and is very cute. He gets his good looks from his dad. Right now we are battling reflux and not sleeping very well. I am not sure if it is because of his reflux or if he is just spoiled, but he doesn't like to sleep laying down. So....if I want to sleep, I usually end up holding him.  I am hoping he will grow out of the reflux and in turn will sleep better. 

Mat and I are so blessed to be the parents of 2 healthy boys. I praise the Lord for them both! My prayer is that we are able to raise them with a love for the Lord and a desire to do His will.  I am thankful that I am able to stay home with them while they are small. I would hate to miss being able to watch them grow and learn. For instance, Lawson has been smiling for several weeks now, but everytime he looks at me and I see that big gummy smile, my heart overflows with joy. I don't want to miss a thing!!!

I could write more but my time is up. Duty calls! 

Welcome to ShellBell's Short and Tall Tales.

I've decided to try my hand at blogging...I know, I know, I am way behind the times. But at least I am doing it now.

You may be wondering "Why the name ShellBell's Short and Tall Tales?" Well really it is simple: I'm Shelley, I'm kinda short, my two boys are short - for now, and my husband is tall.

That's it for now...talk to you soon!