In The Meantime....

It's August. The heat is in full swing as the dog days of summer settle in; the leaves are starting to brown (yes, that's how it goes half the time in Oklahoma) along with my yard (I refuse to waste water). Life seems to sputter along....quickly!


Shepard started walking around May 17th!!! That's about a month before Samara started walking. This fact led us to a hypothesis: The larger (heavier) the child at birth, the longer it takes them to walk...


Shepard has a favorite blanket. He's not attached to it, it is just his! Don't lay on it without leaving enough room for him...or he'll kindly let you know. The blanket is a tan-colored micro-fleece queen-size blanket...enough verbs for you...that he trots over to and buries his face into for several minutes at a time. One day, it was laying on the floor and I decided that I was tired of it being on the ground! I folded it and set it on top of the bean bag in the corner. All the while, Shepard was eying me from about 10-15 ft away. After I set it down, he made a grunting noise (obviously distraught) and crawled over to the bean bag, looked up at me, then proceeded to drag the blanket back into the floor and bury his face in it! I'm glad he can't talk...


Last fall we told Samara that she might be able to start 'Big School' next year. Little did we know that she would ask on a weekly basis "when am I going to start 'Big School'". We're now counting down the days; Samara starts her pre-K classes on August 19th! Growing up fast! She's very excited and is looking forward to getting a backpack and supplies (and ride the bus!). I told her she needed to get a job because I can't afford it! As with everything else I tell her, she just looks at me with a smile and spouts. "No Dad! You're silly!" I'm serious little girl, the way Shepard eats crayons...it's a rainbow when he messes his diaper....


Shepard has been picking up signs...no, not stop, yield, or merge signs but sign language. His first sign was 'more'...which he has quickly attached to mean 'give me this NOW"! One day when he was ill and I was home with him, he found his cup, sucked down the fluids (like a thirsty, parched desert nomad), and walked over to me. He threw his cup down at my feet and signed 'more'. Pretty awesome! He now uses the 'bye bye' sign to indicate that he wants to go outside. We noticed he'd use the sign and go grab his shoes...indicating to his dolt parents that he is tired of being inside...

One of Shana's favorite stories of Shepard was when he asked to go outside for a walk. It was around the time he was just getting over being sick. Shepard pointed out the front door. Shana asked him if he wanted to go outside and he grunted in response. She took him outside into the front yard and he pointed back toward the front door. Shana asked him if he wanted to go inside.....as he grunted again. She proceeded to take him inside and as she entered the front door, he pointed back outside. Turns out, the stroller was sitting on the front porch just outside the front door. Shana finally figures it out (she can be really dense sometimes!) and takes him for a walk. He was a happy camper!


On Samara's 4th birthday, she told me that her only friend was a girl named Rayne. I asked her about a couple of boys she ALWAYS hangs out with (DeCory and Luke). She said that they weren't her friends...that they were her BOYFRIENDS! Time to buy that shotgun...


Samara was outside playing one day, humming a tune. She had been humming it that morning and I wasn't sure what the tune was. So I asked her what it was. She did a little reverse psychology..."you know daddy, use your brain!" I love it!



In the meantime...we have a slew of photos taken over the 1st half of the YEAR that I thought we'd share. I'm getting behind...it'll be winter before I get the Water Park photos up!

Shep in the tub...

Samara coloring in her room. Great shot...

A cold, dreary February weekend with the nuggets cooped up in the house...running amok. What can you do when you can't go outside? You bring 'outside' 'inside'....the Greenhouse! Samara loves this place because they have a sandbox for all the kiddos to play in. One day, we actually witnessed a 2-year-old girl peeing in the sand. Nice!

Last fall, Samara asked for a sandbox of her own. In February, we took apart some old fence panels and built a sandbox! Samara helped!

Grandma bought Samara a new toy at the circus...

Fill in the blank on this one. What did Samara do? What is Shana telling her? Hmm...

Shepard at the Children's Zoo in Oklahoma City...

And Samara walking around barefoot at the 'river exhibit' at the OKC Children's Zoo.

Samara and Samantha at Great Grandpa's funeral...

Shep and Shana at the Lake Oolagah park...

Nice!

What!?!?!? Eating IS entertainment with these kids!

Samara and Shepard both like eating outside...when the weather is nice. Samara always asks if we can have a picnic!

Take it easy....

Happy Birthday, Shep!!

Picture it! Edmond, OK. April 16th, 2010. Approximately 9PM. The day before Shepard's first birthday party. In addition to his fantastic immediate family, Shep's grandmothers, uncle, 2 aunts, and 4 cousins come drudging through the front door only minutes after the Return of the Father from a training course in Virgina!

Over the course of the next 2 days, chaos would consume the household! Mother Nature was intent on providing moisture to the clay-dry central-Oklahoma soil; it rained ALL weekend!!! The intrepid plans of Shep's parents to tie the children to a tree in the backyard drastically foiled!! No playing in the backyard. The sandbox was inundated. A march through the swamp to the swing set. The only option: to painstakingly tread through endless civil wars, alliances, compacts, resolutions, skirmishes with the cats, and finally PEACE!

But before the final dust cloud blew away, before oblivion went sweeping out the door, grandma, Sheldon, and Samantha joined the battle...6 adults and 7 children in our household...about 100 square feet per person! There have been wars over less!

Oma and Shepard!

The Nuggets having a sea skirmish the night after the party. John doesn't look very happy...must be boys vs girls...

Shepard didn't have a cake, he had CUPCAKES!!!

I swear if this was a banana, he would have had it down in 6.3 seconds...

Yummmmmmmmm.....

When asked 'any present ideas', we responded with "food" and "clothes". Most of the time, Shep would rather eat than play!

Big sister "helping" out...

The only birthday party you'll go to where you could eat half of the gifts!

And once again, Shepard is eating. Of course, Samara helps with the clothes!

Nicknames

Every parent gives their children nicknames. Most of the time, the children grow up with an infinite amount of animosity towards their parents for various acts done onto them. I now have additional ammunition as I have just been informed that my nicknames as a child were 'Kissyfer' and 'Chrisy-pooh'. I am now convinced that this has had irreversible effects on my psyche! On the other hand, Shana's was a very suitable 'My Little Angel'!!

When Samara was younger, we called her 'Scooter' because of her ability to scoot from one place to the next. Our neighbor in Colorado called Samara '9-pounder', which is a reference to her birth weight. Now, Samara also goes by 'Mara' and 'Niveh'.

We have several nicknames for Shepard…for various reasons:

“Little Brother”- Both Shana and I like the movie “The 13^th Warrior”…mainly because we’ve read the book “Eater’s of the Dead” by Michael Crichton, for which the movie was based…and the Norsemen have nicknamed Antonio Banderas’ character “Little Brother”. I think it's just the way they say it in the movie...

“Rabble Rouser” – When Shepard gets hungry, the boy yells and raises Cain, often to the point of instilling a rebellion in the household. Very political when you have a 10-month old getting the 3-year old riled up and demanding tribute in the form of food at about 5:30-6:00 every evening. Luckily, Shepard like strawberries…and strawberries just happen to fit perfectly in a wide-open 10-month-old mouth. Sometimes we have to stuff them into his mouth…but it works!

“Nugget” – The funny thing about this nickname, Shepard actually recognizes it as his name…often turning around when you say it. This one comes from two origins: 1) it’s better to say “nugget” than “butt nugget”. “Nugget” is the name of the lower-ranked fighter pilots in the TV show Battlestar Galactica, which is one of my all-time favorite shows.

I’ve brainwashed Samara into thinking “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Journey” is a great movie! She runs around sometimes saying “excellent” and playing the air guitar! Also, “No way Bill”! You know, the movie does have historical figures…she has recognized the name Billy the Kid…

Shepard had a bout of ear infections in November/December. It took him nearly 1 and a half months to get over them (after 4 different antibiotics of varying success). His next treatment would have been ear tubes...or so the all-wise Oracle (doctor) says.

Shepard started crawling the week after Christmas!! Development-wise, that’s 8-months old vs. Samara’s crawling age of 7 months. His passion is to crawl over to the cat food pan/watering bowl and stick his fingers in the water and cat food. Sometimes we catch him before he starts eating the cat food...sometimes not. One day we weren’t quick enough and we found him faced-down in the water bowl, drinking! Good stuff!

Samara has been moved up into the pre-K class at ‘school’ and seems to be adjusting very well, although it seems that she is becoming more susceptible to peer pressure. For example, she refuses to wear a certain pair of pants because a kid told her they were disgusting or that her Pistol Pete shirt makes her look like a boy!!! The next step: Edmond Public Schools has a pre-K program (or lottery, as we've been told) that we'll try to get her into. Yea!!! Less money out-of-pocket...

Every child has those household items that are more entertaining to play with than the expensive toys; Shep is no different! His favorite toy is a green, plastic watering can that I use to water the house plants. He loves all the endless curves and the hollow sound that it makes when one repeatedly beats it on the floor. He also likes the dishwasher...standing up by it and grabbing clean silverware etc etc.

The second major snow storm of the season rolled into Oklahoma around January 28^th/29^th. We wanted to get out, so we plopped the kids into the Schwinn cart and took a 2-mile roundtrip walk to the grocery store in the snowy conditions. That was fun; the kids fell asleep on the walk back.

One day, I took Samara and Shepard in to ‘school’ and as I was getting Samara out of the car, she handed me a piece of paper that she had in her coat pocket from the previous day. She said she cut it out at ‘sensory table’. I looked at the piece of paper and Samara said ‘I want this”…for my birthday. The paper was an advertisement from a magazine or newspaper to this:

http://myprincessparty.net/Home_Page.html

I’m in serious trouble….

Shepard had a 9-month check-up exam on January 18^th:

Height: 27 ½ inches

Weight: 19 lbs 13 oz

Parents always want to compare their children…let’s take it to the extreme! Samara’s vitals at 9 months:

Height: 28 ¼ inches

Weight: 18 lbs 6 oz

I wonder who would win the 9-month wrestling match. Probably Shep, since he has 4-5 teeth now (first one came in right after Christmas – 8 months) and Samara didn’t get her teeth until she was about 11 months old…no rules; biting allowed!

Here are some photos from the last 2-3 months:

Shana and Samara in my mother's pasture the day after Christmas...

Christmas Shepard...

Samara's new underwear...she was ecstatic!

Shana and Shep on our visit to Gioia's (and the girls)...

These are some shots from our visit to the zoo. It was a nice and quite day!

The kids in the tub!!

Shep playing in the living room...

Samara stamped her forehead...

Shep's pastime...

The Nugget and his food!

Ahhh...a nice warm day at the park. The last shot was near sunset...great color on the wood frame...

'Twas the Night Before Christmas

...and I need to catch up with stories and photos...

Happy Holidays everyone! Normally, I’m Mr. Scrooge when it comes to Christmastime. However, I’ve come to the realization that having kids means getting an attitude adjustment. A strong statement indeed!

Shana and the kids went to Claremore one Friday several weeks ago to hang out with Grandma. The trip gave me the occasion to wrap the gifts we had purchased to date and stuff them under our faux tree. When Shana and the kids came home Saturday night, Samara saw the presents and proceeded to take them out from under the tree and stack them elsewhere! Kids will be kids! Surprisingly, she hasn’t asked or tried to open any of the gifts…waiting until Christmas, I suppose.

Samara and her princess outfits. She’s hit a phase where she’ll come home from “school” and strip down to her underwear (in a 60-62F house) and put on tights and a princess dress. One day, Shepard had a doctor’s appointment and I took her with us. Before we left the house, she stuffed one of her backpacks with “stuff” and brought it with her. I didn’t mind…not really a big deal. We get to the doctor’s office and are called into one of the smaller waiting rooms. You know, the rooms they put you in to make you feel like they’re paying attention to you, but make you wait another 30 minutes. Well, we get into the smaller “waiting” room and Samara proceeds to strip down, pull her princess clothes out, and morph into Princess Samara…all within about 2 minutes. No big deal…since I figured we’d be there another hour!!

I periodically ask Samara what she wants for Christmas. One day, she replied with her normal rhetoric. After several moments, she said she wanted a “weedeater”. I replied ,“Like the one mommy and daddy mows the yard with?” “Yeah!” “Ok.” Several more moments pass, “A pink one!” Sorry kid, you’ll have to be satisfied with the “My Parents Are Poor” t-shirt.

Shepard has been sitting up since before Thanksgiving…at about 7 months. Comparing the two wee ones (because what parent doesn’t), Samara was sitting up at around 5 months. Now the pressure is on Shep to start walking before Samara’s pedestrian 14 months of age!

Shep is kind of crawling now. The kind of crawling where the child gets on all fours and pushes himself backwards. He also does a head bobble when he’s lying down…almost looks like he’s trying to scratch the back of his head. At other times, when he’s sitting up, he’ll start to tilt his head and look sideways at things…then rotate between right-side-up and sideways. What a discovery!

Let me tell you, Shepard is an eater! When the kid gets hungry, he lets everyone know! I mean, the kid gets royally pissed! Sometimes, when you set him in his high chair and walk by with a jar of baby food, he starts crying like he just lost an arm. Typically, we feed him 2 different foods…say liquid beef/carrots and a fruit/yogurt blend (or something like that). If he doesn’t like one of the options when you stick it in his mouth, he’ll cry until you stuff the other option into his mouth. When this happens, we alternate spoonfuls…so crying…happy…crying…happy…etc.

I picked up the kids from “school” one day and once home, proceeded to find something to cook for dinner. Shep was sitting on the floor of the living room and Samara went to her room to play…with a pair of scissors, apparently!! Not a horror story, honestly! After about 5-10 minutes in her room, she comes running out holding up a piece of paper yelling, “Look daddy, a pentagon!!!” The child had cut a piece of paper into the shape of a pentagon! It was almost perfect. Shana is saving it in order to frame it just in case this is as smart as she gets…

Shep in the tub. Samara can get him to laugh at a moment's notice!

Waterfalls near Guthrie! We went here while doing fieldwork on the Garber-Wellington Aquifer.

Samara and our Christmas tree.

Number 1 draft pick.

Photos of the kids taken around Thanksgiving...

Our Halloween costumes...

Samara accidentally put her coat on upside down. She was running away from me because she was embarrassed...

Samara and Shep...sitting on daddy.

Shepard in his crib...

Samara likes to help out...

Samara and Batman at a Will's (our neighbor's child) birthday party.

My new nephew, Chuck, who was born on October 12th.

Shana and Shep in the pasture behind my parent's house.

John, Tori, Samara, and the watchdog...

The kids in the pasture in October...