Noah’s first word

This morning we went to playgroup. It was a house real close to ours, but we drove since I had some things to do after and we had Evan’s bike with us. The house is in a cul-de-sac and the mom asked us to bring the kid’s bikes so they could ride around. The kids played both inside and outside. Inside, the mom put out some food. Evan didn’t eat much, but Noah had a great time sitting at the table eating the big kid food. Noah ate fruit, bread, and some cinnamon roll. Outside, Evan rode his bike for a while and then he played with one of the kid’s motorized car. It took him a little while to figure out the pedal, backwards, forwards, steering, … but by the end he was doing a lot better. Evan enjoyed driving Marissa around.

After playgroup we went to HEB. We were pretty hot since we had been playing outside and it was in the 80s. At HEB they have a little café with an Icee machine. I got Icees for Evan and me. Evan was very excited. He drank his while sitting in the cart with Noah. Evan and I shared our Icees with Noah. Somehow Noah got Icee all over the place, but he did seem to like it a lot.

At home, I fed Noah lunch, but Evan didn’t want to eat anything.

I put them down for naps. It took Evan a while to fall asleep.

When Morry got home the boys were starting to wake up from their naps. When I went to get Evan he didn’t look good and felt warm. I took his temperature and it was 101 degrees.

We went to dinner at a place called Mandola’s in the Triangle. The Triangle is an area of town where they have shops and restaurants with apartments on top. We had a nice time at dinner. It was pretty crowded since the weather was nice. I grabbed a table with Noah while Morry and Evan stood in line and ordered our food. We were able to sit outside. Noah ate very well, but Evan didn’t eat much. He must not have been feeling well. At dinner I took a picture of Evan, Noah, and Morry. I asked Evan to say “cheese” and it sounded like Noah was saying “cheese” too.

After we finished eating we went over to see the water fountain. I took out the camera to take a picture, and without me even saying anything, Noah started to say, “cheese!”. So, Noah’s first official word is “cheese.” Very fitting since he loves having his picture taken.

After dinner we went to Yogurt Planet, a neat frozen yogurt shop. They had many flavors of yogurt and toppings to choose from. You get your own yogurt and toppings and just pay by the pound. We had fun making our yogurts. Before we walked in the store Evan said he was hungry and he wanted yogurt. We made a fruity one for Evan but he didn’t eat much. He really wasn’t feeling well.

We just put Evan and Noah to bed. Evan still had a fever so we gave him some medicine. Hopefully he feels better tomorrow. Poor little guy.

Evan Evan Bo Bevin

Today I walked Evan to school. I brought breakfast for Evan to eat in the stroller and brought Kix and a bottle for Noah. I gave Noah his cereal first and when he was done I handed him his bottle. Even though I think he is able, Noah does not feed himself bottles. I propped up the bottle with my sweatshirt and then he drank most of the bottle. That was the first time he fed himself a bottle.

After I dropped Evan off Yenis and I talked a while outside the school.

Noah and I walked home and then I just did some laundry and cleaning.

When we picked Evan up Wendy said they sang the Name Game today. She said the kids had a great time hearing their name sung in the song.

At home Evan and Noah took good naps.

When Morry got home we went outside in the backyard for a little while. While Evan was swinging on the glider I heard him singing the Name Game song with his name, Noah’s name, and Papa’s name. He didn’t quite have it down, but I knew what he was singing. It was cute.

For dinner, Morry made cornflake chicken and biscuits.

We are about to take a walk and then put the boys to bed.

Tonight I’m going out with Alissa. I’m not sure what we’ll do yet. Maybe coffee or a movie?

Backyard Fun

This morning Yenis and Kevin came over and we spent the whole morning outside in the backyard. Evan and Kevin play very well together. Noah loved being outside. We came in for lunch. Evan and Kevin sat together at the red table. They talked to each other during lunch. It was very cute. I’m not sure what they were talking about. At one point I heard Kevin ask Evan if he liked tomatoes. Yenis and Kevin went home around 2:00 and I put the boys down for naps.

Evan and Noah slept very well. Blanca came at 3:00. She said Noah slept until 4:30. When I got home from tutoring at 5:30 Evan was still sleeping. He must have been pretty worn out.

We had corned beef for dinner tonight.

After dinner we took a short walk and Evan walked/ran some of the way and sat in the stroller the rest.

Evan and Noah are in bed now, though both are still making noises.

Another Tuesday

I walked/ran Evan to school today. It wasn’t too cold out this morning.

Noah and I just hung out at the house while Evan was at school. I trimmed Noah’s hair, but besides that we really didn’t do much.

When I walked in Evan’s classroom, Evan ran up to Noah and gave him a kiss. On the way home I told Evan that I gave Noah and haircut and then he asked if he could have one too. When we got home we all went outside in the backyard and I trimmed Evan’s hair. We played outside for a few more minutes, and then we came in for naps.

Noah napped, but Evan did not.

Blanca came over at 4:00. I tutored and came home at 8:00.

When we got home we took a walk around the neighborhood. Evan walked and ran some of the way. He sat in the stroller for about the last ¼ of the walk.

The boys are in bed and asleep now.

UT

We had an appointment at the University of Texas at 11:00am for a baby psychology study. They called me a few days ago to see if I could bring Noah in. They are doing a study on how infants understand numbers. There was a screen Noah had to look at and they showed different numbers of objects to him. The whole thing maybe lasted 15 minutes. They don’t pay anything, but they gave us a little baby cup with Bevo (the longhorn) on it. While I was in the room with Noah a student played with Evan. They had a ton of toys in the lobby. Evan and Noah didn’t want to leave.

When we got home I went for a 3 mile run with the boys and Lizzy. When we got home Rita and Blanca were outside with a big black dog. They were trying to figure out whose dog it was. The dog was very friendly and played with Lizzy in the front yard. The dog did not have any tags on it. Rita couldn’t put the dog in her yard because her other dogs wouldn’t get along with him. I said she could put the dog in our yard, as long as she tried to find the owners. I needed to get inside and feed Evan and Noah. Lizzy and the dog played for a while in the backyard. At some point in the afternoon I looked out in the yard and the dog was gone. I’m hoping that means they found the owner.

Evan and Noah took good naps.

For dinner we had bbq ribs and French bread.

After dinner we took a walk around the neighborhood and Evan walked the whole time. He even helped hold Lizzy’s leash some of the way.

The boys are in bed now. Noah is still talking.

Bowling

Hello everyone, this is Morry. Rachel is talking to her parents so I'm writing the blog tonight.

This morning, the boys got up around 8:45am. Rachel got up with the boys to try to let me sleep. Evan, though, was so loud that I couldn't sleep. He was downstairs playing basketball and was cheering and yelling. I laid in bed for awhile but couldn't fall back asleep.

When I got up Rachel and I talked about what to do today. We decided to go bowling, or as Evan calls it vowling or vowly. He was very excited to go. We told him that we were going to get bowling shoes. As we were walking into the bowling alley, he told me that he was going to get new shoes. I told him that we were just borrowing shoes.

The bowling alley is all computerized now and so when we typed Evan's name in, we chose whether or not we wanted the bumper on. The bumper is a metal gate that raises up so you can't get a gutter ball. They gave us the lightest ball they had for Evan which was six pounds. We showed him how to push it down the lane. One time he pushed it down the lane, it went so slowly I wasn't sure it was going to make it. I actually got a video of the end of it's travels. Take a look at the video down below. Keep an eye on the lane two to the left of ours. When the ball gets bowled, it actually beats Evan's down the lane.

Evan just had a great time bowling. He jumped and clapped every time he pushed the ball. When it was Rachel's or my turn, he'd run along with us and cheer for our ball. He'd say "good job Mommy" or "good job Daddy". When he pushed it and he missed the pins he'd say "I'll try again." Noah was in the stroller while we bowled. At the end he got a bit fussy. So Rachel got him out and he helped Evan push the ball once.

When we got home from bowling, we ate lunch and the put the boys down for a nap.

After naps, we went to HEB. Both boys were excellent there. I estimated the bill with in 82 cents before we checked out. And no, I wasn't actually adding the prices up in my head as we were going. But we saved $39+ in coupons. We actually surpassed some limit of allowable coupons without getting manager approval. That was by far the most we've ever saved in coupons. Rachel is very proud of herself.

For dinner, Evan ate macaroni and cheese, pepperoni, black olives and bread. That's two good dinners in a row.

Rachel and Evan made fresh-squeezed orange juice after dinner. Evan really enjoyed helping Rachel. He also enjoyed drinking the orange juice. I let Noah have some sips out of my glass. He really liked it as well. I think that might have been the first time Noah drank out of a glass. He did very well and knew what to do right away.

Both boys are in bed now. If Evan stays in bed tonight, he'll have made it three weeks straight without getting out of bed. The last time he got out of bed was Super Bowl Sunday. But I understand how excited he was :)

Until next time...

Bob the Builder

Hello everyone, this is Morry. Rachel asked me to write the blog tonight.

This morning Evan got up around 8:45am. I got him dressed and we came downstairs and started to watch Garfield 2. He ate a banana. A little while later, Noah woke up and Evan and I went upstairs and got him and then brought him downstairs.

Rachel came downstairs around 10:15am and we started to get ready to go to story time at BookPeople downtown. BookPeople is a really neat book store in Austin. At 11:30 was story time and at this particular story time, Bob the Builder was going to be there. We got to BookPeople about 10 minutes early and sat down. A lady came out at 11:30 and read one book. Then someone dressed up as Bob the Builder came out and stood there while they read a second book. After that, we got in line to get pictures with Bob. Evan was very shy so in the picture he's kind of far away. I think he was a bit scared of Bob.

We walked across the street after that to Whole Foods. It's the Whole Foods world headquarters so it's huge. Evan and Rachel split a smoothie and I got fresh-squeezed orange juice. We then went to the roof where they have a playground. Evan played around there a bunch.

We came home, had lunch and then put the boys down for naps.

For dinner, we decided to go to the Spaghetti Warehouse downtown. We had a coupon (do we go anywhere without a coupon) so that helped us make our decision of where to go. Evan loved the fact that there was a trolley in the restaurant. He was very confused by it though. He wanted to know if he needed a ticket to get on it. He asked if they served hot chocolate on the trolley. It was very cute. We ordered him spaghetti with garlic and butter (I got the same thing). The meal came with apple sauce, spaghetti and ice cream. Adult meals came with soup or salad. I got a salad, Rachel got soup and Evan had his apple sauce. Evan ate the whole thing. He then ate quite a bit of his spaghetti. Evan had a great time putting a piece in his mouth and then sucking it in. Noah also ate really well. He ate the baby food that we brought for him, a hot dog, cheese and bread. Evan also ate his ice cream. I think that restaurant was perfect for the boys. There was a lot to look at and the food was good for them. Overall it was a huge success.

When we were asking Evan what flavor ice cream he wanted, he said he wanted strawberry. Then he said he wanted blueberry ice cream. I said I had never had blueberry ice cream. He said "Daddy, blueberry ice cream is good, actually." It made me laugh.

Both boys are in bed, but I think they may both be awake.

Until next time...

Park Playgroup and Panera

This morning we met some people from playgroup at the park. We were there for about and hour and a half. Noah and Evan had a great time. I let Noah crawl around and climb on things. Both boys went on the merry-go-round. Noah even went down the small slide while I held his hand. He loved it. Evan spent a lot of time in the baby swing. He kept asking me to push him higher.

After playgroup we went to Panera Bakery for lunch. I ordered a kid’s grilled cheese meal for Evan. He ate the yogurt and fruit, but not the sandwich. I cut up the sandwich and Noah ate half of it. Yenis and Kevin went to. We ate outside and when the boys were done eating they had a good time playing together. They were playing Star Wars with straws.

I guess Evan and Noah were pretty worn out. They took good naps. I was even able to nap.

For dinner we went to Pho Thai Son. Evan ate all the seafood out of my soup. He ate the fish, shrimp, krab (imitation crab), and squid. We were going to go to the bakery next door after dinner, but it had already closed for the day.

We are about to give the boys baths and put them to bed.

Evan walked home from school

While Evan was at school today I did some cleaning. I vacuumed and washed clothes while Noah took a little late morning nap.

I walked to pick Evan up from school. When I got to school the kids were outside for story time. I could see the playground as I approached the school and could tell Evan was out there. Evan was really excited to see us walking up. He ran up to playground fence and said hi to me and Noah.

I let Evan walk some of the way home. He did really well. He stayed by me. At one point he said he wanted to find a chair to sit on. I asked if was tired and if he wanted to sit in the stroller. He said he just wanted to find a chair. I said we’d look for one, but of course we didn’t see any in our neighborhood on the way home. A little while later he asked to sit in the stroller. I would say he walked about ¼ of the way home.

When we got home I did more cleaning and laundry while Evan and Noah played.

While the boys were upstairs for naps I rearranged the downstairs family room furniture. Noah kept getting to the wires for the phone and lamp so I wanted to try to change the way the room was set up.

Noah napped for a little bit, but Evan didn’t nap. When I brought Evan downstairs he seemed a little confused by the new furniture layout. He asked what I did. We talked about where the couch and the chair used to be.

For dinner we had Coke Ham and mashed potatoes.

After dinner we went to Circuit City to see if we could get any good deals. Everything was picked over and the stuff they did have wasn’t that great. All we got was a Garfield 2 DVD for Evan.

We just put Evan and Noah to bed. It seems to be quiet up there.

80 Degrees

Today the weather was beautiful. It got into the 80s today.

We went over to Yenis and Kevin’s house around 11:30am. They just built a house. They have brand new carpet upstairs, so they ask you to take your shoes off before walking on the carpet. Kevin has a very nice gameroom upstairs. Evan remembered this and as soon as we walked in Evan sat down by the stairs, took off his shoes, and asked to go upstairs. Evan, Kevin, and Noah played upstairs for a little while. Then, we all came downstairs and went in the backyard. We ate lunch and played outside. Yenis made lasagna. I didn’t think Evan would want any. He usually doesn’t like pasta with sauce. Evan asked for lasagna and then asked me if it was the same as the lasagna that Garfield eats. He ended up eating a little bit of it. I’m glad he tried it.

Evan really liked playing with Kevin’s guitar. Below is a video of Evan playing Jingle Bells. Evan and Kevin also played baseball. They would take turn pitching the ball while the other was at bat. A few times they actually did well and one of the boys was able to hit the ball with the bat.

We came home for nap time. Noah napped, but Evan didn’t.

Blanca came at 3:00. I tutored and got home around 6:00.

Morry made fajitas for dinner. We just finished eating and cleaning up.

We’ll go upstairs soon to get the boys ready for bed.

I’m meeting Alissa tonight at Ruta Maya for some salsa music/dancing.

School and Shopping

Morry worked from home today. He wasn’t feeling well and didn’t get much sleep last night. The boys slept late and woke up around 9am. We were a little late to Evan’s school. When we walked in one of the girls ran up to him and said, “Hi Evan!” and gave him a big hug. It was very cute.

I took Noah with me to library. It just so happened there was a story time about to start so I took Noah to the story time. Not even 5 minutes into the story time Noah got antsy and we walked out. I checked out a few books and we left.

Then, we went shopping. I bought Noah some shoes. All we have are Evan’s old shoes and they don’t fit him well since they are pretty worn out. I also got a shirt for Noah and a Toy Story book for Evan. I happened to see the Toy Story book when I was checking out and couldn’t pass it up.

At home Noah took a short nap. Then we ate lunch and picked up Evan. When we were getting in the car I pointed out Noah’s new shoes. Even was very interested since they had Thomas the Train on them. I told Evan I bought him a new book and it was on his bed waiting for him at home. Then, he asked if I went shopping and what else I did while he was in school.

I put Evan and Noah down for naps but neither one wanted to nap. Noah eventually fell asleep, but Evan did not nap.

Blanca came at 4:00 so I could tutor. I got home about 8:00.

Morry took Evan and Noah to McDonalds for dinner. He asked Evan where he wanted to go for dinner and he picked McDonalds. Morry said both boys were well behaved and had a good time.

Mommy is a cow

We didn’t do anything special today. I had planned on taking the boys for a run around the lake, but it was cloudy and there was a chance of rain. I didn’t want to get stuck in the rain halfway around the lake. It was also pretty chilly outside. We just stayed in the house today. Evan played on the computer on the PBS Kids website. Noah took a morning nap.

After lunch I put on some music and we danced. Though DirecTv we get satellite radio. I just put on the radio through the TV. Evan really loved “I get around” by the Beach Boys. He was dancing and doing a lot of spinning.

Evan and Noah took really long naps and woke up around 6:00 when Morry got home. It was cloudy and dark so I think that helped them sleep better.

For dinner we made a pasta salad using the leftover chicken from last night.

After dinner Evan was playing with some of the letter blocks that go to Noah’s train. I was playing with Noah and Evan said, “Look Mommy, I spelled my name.” I looked over and he had spelled E-V-A-W. He was so close. I helped him find the N and we fixed his name. Then, he told me he was going to spell my name. Evan said, “Look, I wrote your name.” I looked over and he spelled C-O-W. No joke! Very funny. I guess that’s how he sees me. I don’t know if he really knew he was spelling cow or if it was a total coincidence.

We just bathed the boys and now they are in bed. I hear Noah playing with his bear. Evan is listening to Trout Fishing in America. Grandma/Lynn and Papa/Lenny bought him a CD with the Pico de Gallo song on it. He asks for the Gallo song now.

Sunday Brunch

Hello everyone, this is Morry. Rachel's cleaning up a bit so I'm writing the blog.

This morning, Noah got up around 8:45am. I got him up, dressed him and fed him. Shortly afterwards, Evan got up. Papa/Lenny got Evan dressed and came downstairs. When everyone got downstairs, we decided to go to Sunday brunch. We had a coupon to Nutty Brown which has a Sunday brunch buffet.

We drove over there and were seated very quickly. The buffet had a good variety including make-your-own waffles, french toast, migas, some Asian stir fry, a pork loin, etc... They also had cinnamon buns. And you could order an omelet from the waiter as part of the buffet. Everyone was happy with the variety of food and quality was decent. Evan had a bunch of fruit. He turned down the cinnamon buns. I couldn't believe it. Noah ate a ton including fruit, biscuits and french toast.

After brunch, we went outside to the stage area (they have concerts on weekends out back). Evan danced around. He was having a good time. Then we went back inside and listened to the jazz band the had playing. Both boys absolutely loved it.

When we got home, Evan wanted to go out back and play. He went on a swing and Noah went on a swing. Both boys could have stayed out there for hours.

When we came in, Papa/Lenny and Grandma/Lynn left and we put the boys down for naps.

After naps, we ran over to HEB to pick up some food. We had nothing for dinner. We picked up an already cooked chicken and some food for the week. When you bought a chicken you got free mashed potatoes. I was skeptical about microwave mashed potatoes, particularly HEB brand, but these were pretty good. For a 6 minute side, it was actually great.

Right now, the boys are running around playing. Evan is wearing his Cars galoshes and had his Steeler helmet on running with a football in his arm. He dove on the floor and said that he scored a touchdown. Then he told me he won the Super Bowl. I think I've taught him well.

We're going to put the boys to bed shortly.

Until next time...

Bookstore and Birthday Party

This morning Evan got up around 9:00. I got up with him and got him dressed. I tried to let Morry sleep, but Lizzy ended up waking him up.

We just hung around the house this morning. I went for a run with Lizzy.

For lunch we went to Natural Planet, a restaurant near our house for lunch. The food was good, but the service wasn’t so great. It took forever to get our food and then it took a long time to pay the bill. Something was wrong with their computer system and they weren’t able to print receipts.

After lunch we went to Barnes and Noble for a little. Evan and Noah enjoyed playing with the train set.

Then, we drove to Barry and Lisa’s house for Lincoln’s first birthday. They have a little rat terrier. Evan spent most of the time outside with the dog and playing on their swing set. Barry and Lisa have a doggie door and Noah discovered how to climb through it. We had a hard time keeping him away from the door. We were inside and he kept wanting to go outside through the doggie door.

After the party we decided to come back home instead of going out to dinner. Neither of the boys had naps since the party was during their nap times. Aunt Susan met us at our house. We called in a order for pizza and dad/Lenny/Papa went to pick it up.

It has been a long day. We are all pretty tired. Hope we all can sleep well tonight.

Valentine's Day - A Day Early

Hello everyone, this is Morry. Rachel asked me to write the blog today.

Today, we were having someone come to clean the house. We do this a couple times a year to get a good cleaning. Typically it's before someone comes to visit. In this case, Papa/Lenny and Grandma/Lynn were coming in. The cleaning service was supposed to send a lady over at 9am. So last night Rachel and straightened up (yes, we cleaned for the cleaning lady) in preparation. Rachel got up early for this as well. However, at 9am the lady called and said she'd be a few minutes late. at 9:40, the woman still had not shown up. So Rachel called and the woman said she was lost. Well she got lost until nearly 11am. I don't know how, in Austin, you can get lost for almost 2 hours. It's just not that hard a city to get around. Unbelievable.

While the lady was cleaning, Rachel brought the boys over to meet me for lunch. We went to Matt's El Rancho for lunch. Evan was very hyper at lunch. We ordered him a quesadilla and a Shirley Temple. He didn't eat any of the quesadilla, but Noah did. Noah seemed to have a good time at lunch.

After Rachel dropped me off at work, she went to a gas station, got some gas and went through the car wash. Evan really enjoyed the car wash. He talked Noah through it by saying "Look Noah - it's coming over on that side now," and things like that. He likes to be the big brother.

Rachel put the boys down for naps when she got home but Evan was still awake when Papa/Lenny and Grandma/Lynn came. So he came downstairs to see them for a little bit. Then he went back upstairs for a nap.

When I got home, he was still napping. Rachel and I had plans to go out for an early Valentine's Day. So we exchanged gifts. I got Rachel three bags of loose leaf tea as well as a mug with a built in filter and a tea pot with a built-in filter. Rachel got me front row seats to see Bill Cosby live. I can't believe she was able to do that.

We went to the Alamo Drafthouse to see He's Just Not That Into You. I figured it was a good Valentine's movie. Plus Rachel put up with my football season. It wasn't bad as chick flicks go. Then we got dessert at Chez Zee.

Meanwhile, Evan and Noah went with their grandparents to the Waterloo Ice House. Evan ate all of the chicken out of Grandma/Lynn's chicken taco. Also there was a live band playing music (country, unfortunately). Noah was bouncing up and down to the music. Evan was outside playing on the play scape but he'd occasionally stop to dance.

Both boys are in bed now and sleeping.

Until next time...

Valentine’s Party

We got a late start this morning. Evan’s school starts at 9:00am, but the boys didn’t wake up until almost 9:00. I wanted to let them sleep. They both needed it. By the time we got to school it was almost 10:00. Evan gave me a hard time when it was time to leave the house. He wouldn’t let me put his shoes on, and then he didn’t want to get in the car. I told him I was going to get in the car with Noah. I left him in the house while I put Noah in the car in the garage. I couldn’t carry them both out to the car anyway. Evan was really crying. I think he thought we were really going to leave him.

Evan had his little Valentine’s party at school. Parents were invited, so Morry and I got there at 12:30. The kids got Valentine ’s Day cards from each other and decorated cookies. Evan was very excited to see Morry at school. We let Noah stand up at the table where all the kids were seating. Noah kept eating cookie crumbs off the table.

When Morry got home we ate hamburgers for dinner and then went to the mall. We needed to get a gift for someone so we went to Children’s Place in the mall. Evan and Noah had fun playing with the toys at Children’s Place. Evan did not want to leave. As we were walking out of the mall he had a scour on his face and was whiny. We passed the cookie store and decided to get some cookies. We asked Evan if we wanted to pick out a cookie and all of the sudden his mood changed. He was happy and running around. Morry and Evan picked out the same sugar cookies and I picked chocolate chip. We let Evan eat his cookie on the way home.

It’s about 9:30 and just put the boys to bed. It sounds like both are still awake.

The Zoo

Last night it was very windy and Lizzy woke us up around 3am. She was whining and shaking. Something was really scaring her. She acted like this last time it was really windy out. There is a tree that was scraping the window when the wind blew and we believe it was making a noise that she didn’t like.

This morning we were woken by the dog next door. The barking was better for a while, but suddenly he has started barking more.

The weather was very nice today. I wanted to do something outside with Evan and Noah. I asked Evan where he wanted to go. I gave him a few choices and he chose the zoo.

At the zoo we bought a bag of animal food for $1. They have a few different cages where you can feed and/or go in with the animals. We stopped first at the goats and sheep. Evan fed some of them and we went in the fence with the goats. Noah liked petting the goat.

Then, we rode the train. They have a little 15 minute train ride that goes around the outside of the zoo. You don’t see many animals, but lots of nice scenery. Evan and Noah loved the train. There was a mom and two little girls sitting behind us and Noah kept turning around to smile at them.

Next, Evan said he wanted to see the pigs. We watched the pigs for a while and then went to other parts of the zoo. Evan found the monkeys most interesting. We sat there for a while. Evan also liked the parrot (or some kind of talking bird). He thought it was very funny when the parrot would say, “hello” or meow like a cat. After we saw all the animals we went back to the area where you can feed them. Evan fed the deer for a long time.

Evan was very well behaved the whole time at the zoo. When it was time to leave, he didn’t even throw a fit.

We came home for lunch and naps. Noah napped, but Evan didn’t.

I had a student come to the house from 5:00-6:30 and then we ate dinner.

Evan and Noah are playing with Morry now. We’ll put them to bed in a little bit.

Target Valentine’s Shopping

I ran/walked Evan to school today. I jogged the way there and walked the way back. The whole time it was threatening to rain, but never really rained. It was just cloudy and humid.

Noah and I went to Target to get some Valentine’s stuff. I picked out some cards for Evan to give to his classmates on Thursday. They are having a party and Valentine’s exchange.

Once we got home, Noah went down for a morning nap.

Yenis came over for lunch and I had to wake Noah up for lunch. I didn’t want him sleeping too long. I wanted to make sure he’d still take his afternoon nap.

We picked up the boys at school. Evan didn’t want to leave. He was playing with some cars and threw a little fit when it was time to go.

At home, I had Evan help me get some of the Valentine’s cards ready. I let him draw on the to/from part, but then he starting coloring over the picture on the card. He was upset when I told him not to color on that part. He started throwing even more of a fit when I wouldn’t let him play with the stickers that came with the cards. I wanted to make sure we had enough for all the cards. Anyway, I knew it was time for a nap at that point.

Blanca came at 3:00 so I could go tutor. I got home at 8:00 and we gave Evan and Noah baths and put them to bed. Once they were in bed I could finally eat dinner. Morry had already eaten earlier with the boys.

It is quiet in both rooms now. Let’s home it stays that way.

Kerbey Lane

This morning we met Yenis and Kevin at a teachers’ store to look at a few things. The boys loved playing with all the toys in that store. Afterward, we went to Kerbey Lane for lunch. I gave Evan a choice of pancakes and he chose apple. So, Evan and Kevin shared a kid’s apple pancake and I ordered a blueberry pancake for me. Guess which one Evan wanted to eat? Of course he wanted my blueberry one and not his apple one. Noah ate some pancake too. We took the leftover apple pancake home. Evan and Kevin enjoyed sitting next to each other at the restaurant.

When we got home I put the boys down for a nap.

Blanca came over at 4:00 and I tutored until 6:30. Morry, Evan, and Noah met me for dinner at Hang Town Grill (near where I was tutoring). We had a nice dinner. Evan and Noah were well behaved. Kids eat free there on Mondays so we ordered a corn dog for Evan. He was very excited about having a hot dog popsicle. He only ate a few bites though. He did eat some fries and fruit too. Noah enjoyed putting his food on my plate and then eating his food from my plate. It was cute. I’d look over and was he putting little cubes of cheese on my plate. As part of the kids’ meal, you have a choice of cookie or ice cream. Evan chose ice cream and got his own little cup. He took forever to eat it though. After a long time we finally told him we were leaving in 5 minutes. He didn’t finish all his ice cream and was very upset that we had to leave.

Evan and Noah are in bed now, but still not asleep.

Post-Football Sunday

Hello everyone, this is Morry. Rachel is talking to her parents so I'm writing the blog tonight.

Today is the first Sunday after the Steelers won the Super Bowl (just typing that phrase is exciting). Or as Rachel says "we now have our lives back". The boys let us sleep in until 9:30 again. When we woke up, Rachel informed me that we were going to go for a run.

We got the boys ready as well as Lizzy and took off for a run. Rachel pushed the stroller while I ran with Lizzy. It was very humid out. I have not run for over a year, while Rachel has had spurts of running in the past year. Rachel was able to run a good distance while I had to stop and walk after a while.

When we got back from running, we decided to run over to the Home Depot. We needed things like a filter for our refrigerator and weather stripping for the back door where Lizzy tore it. A few months ago, Lizzy chewed a piece of a wood train of Evan's. I wanted to just sand it down for Evan before he could play with it again. I told Evan back then that I'd do it when we went to Home Depot to get sand paper. As Rachel and I put a list together of what we needed, Evan reminded me that we need to fix his train. That kid's memory is amazing. It's actually better than mine, which is scary.

We got to the Home Depot and Evan told me he wanted to walk around. First we picked out night light bulbs which Evan carried the whole time. Evan really enjoyed walking and being free. We looked at washers and dryers a bit and Evan wanted me to open up one for him. When we got the weather stripping, Evan wanted me to carry it. I got to 8 foot strips. So Evan held the back end of the strips while I held the front end. We walked through the store like this. The checkout lady said "looks like you've got a little helper."

For lunch, Rachel made and omelet for her while I made fried matzoh. Noah shared some of the omelet with Rachel while Evan shared the fried matzoh with me.

After the boys naps, Rachel tutored. Evan wanted us to watch Garfield for the 200th time. Noah was a bit cranky that whole time. I'm not sure what his deal was. Rachel got home around 7pm and we had dinner then. Rachel had gotten chicken and wild rice soup together and I made chicken tenders. I fed Noah before Rachel got home but then he sat with us and ate finger food during dinner. He seemed upset the whole time.

The boys are now in bed. Evan seems to be quiet while Noah has been making noise. I had to go up there in the middle of writing this because Noah was crying. He had knocked all 4 of his pacifiers on the floor and was upset.

I don't know why I'm actually typing this out, but if Evan doesn't get out of bed tonight, he will have stayed in bed every night for a week. Amazing.

Until next time...

The Park

Hello everyone, this is Morry. Rachel's cleaning up a bit so I'm writing the blog tonight.

This morning, the boys let us sleep in. It was really nice because all of us needed it. The boys have been getting up early all week long and after the Super Bowl and not being able to sleep last Sunday night, I have been drained all week.

When we got up, we called Matt and arranged to go the Circle C Park to let the kids play. Matt had told us that Ben and Molly wanted us to bring Lizzy. So we brought Lizzy with us. We also brought Evan's soccer ball with us. Before Matt and the kids got there, Evan was kicking the soccer ball into the net. Every time he scored a goal, he'd do a lap around in celebration. When everyone got there, we took Lizzy off the leash and threw a tennis ball to her. She was very excited. It's been a while since we've done that with her. Evan told us he wanted to go on the swings. So we went over to the swings. Evan insisted on Matt pushing him. No one was allowed to push him on the swings but Matt. We finished up playing some soccer. Molly threw the tennis ball to Lizzy while Ben and Evan played soccer together. It was very nice.

After the park, we went and got smoothies at a place called Booster Juice. It's a smoothie place that opened in Circle C a few months ago. We had some coupons and they let us use two coupons. Evan got his own kids smoothie (for free).

For lunch, Evan and Noah both didn't eat much. We think Noah is getting tired of baby food. We'll probably finish up the baby food we have and not get anymore. We made Evan my special Apple Butter and Jelly sandwich. I was very excited that he was going to have it, but he refused to eat it. For all of you making a face over apple butter and jelly, I can tell you that it goes together better than peanut butter and jelly. The next time you put peanuts in a fruit salad, let me know.

The boys took a good nap, as did Rachel. I watched Super Bowl IX on DVD. It's the first Super Bowl that the Steelers won. Rachel got me DVDs of the TV broadcasts of all 5 previous Super Bowl wins. It was really weird watching a football game from Jan 1975. But I really enjoyed it.

Tonight, we went with Rachel to get her hair trimmed and then we went to dinner at a new Mexican restaurant. They advertised as more Mexican than Tex-Mex so I was looking forward to it. I think that it was our first and last time at the restaurant. It was still Tex-Mex, the soda had no fizz, we felt cramped, it was hot in there and the table was sticky.

Both boys were especially cranky at dinner and Evan told me he wanted to sleep on me. So we knew he must not be feeling well. When we got home, he had a bit of a fever. So we put them to bed early and neither boy complained. I hope they feel better.

Tomorrow there is no football. I'm not sure what we'll do.

Until next time...

JCC - Tot Shabbat

We went to the JCC this morning for Tot Shabbat. It had been a very long time since we had gone there. Usually we have playgroup on Friday mornings, but lately the playgroup hasn’t been meeting as often. I decided to take the boys to the J and try it out again. It was ok. Evan seemed a little bored, but Noah enjoyed the freedom and all the toys. Toward the end both boys were a little cranky. Noah didn’t sleep well last night and both were up early this morning.

After the JCC we went to Alissa’s new house near there. We hung out for just a little bit. She put on the movie Cars for Evan.

By the time we got home it was after 1:00. I fed Evan and Noah and then put them down for naps. Neither napped well. They each maybe slept an hour at the most.

After naps we played around some on the computer. We took some videos and Evan played some online games on Fisher Price. He’s getting pretty good at controlling the mouse and clicking on certain objects.

For dinner we went to this new place called Mighty Fine Burgers. They pretty much only have burgers and fries. We think it is owned by the same people who own Rudy’s. It was good. Evan and Noah had a lot to look at there. There’s a window where you can watch them make the patties and the fries.There were a lot of people there. The restaurant just opened.

After that we went to Barnes and Noble. I sat with Evan and Noah in the kid’s section while Morry got a couple of things he needed. Then, we went to Babies R Us. We bought a kid’s seat that goes on top of the toilet for potty training. We thought that would maybe help Evan be more interested in the potty.

At home, Evan did sit on the potty. He did not pee on it, but at least he sat there. IN fact, he sat there for so long we eventually had to pick him up off of it so he could go to bed. He wasn’t too happy about that.

Evan and Noah are in their rooms now, but both are still awake.

Whew, long day

Evan and Noah woke up early this morning. They started making noise around the time Morry left for work.

I started the laundry, got the boys dressed and fed, and finished getting Evan’s school stuff together.

After dropping Evan off at school I went to HEB. I had a lot of stuff to buy and was there a while. Noah was pretty good in the shopping cart. He just got fussy at the end. At one point we passed some samples. I let Noah have a few bites of chocolate cupcake. Somehow he managed to get just those few small bites everywhere. He had chocolate on his chin, a glob of icing on his sock.

Noah fell asleep on the way home. I put him down for a nap. I quickly put the groceries away, straightened up the house downstairs, and got dinner ready. I made another crock pot dish – Crock Pot Turkey. It was really good and juicy.

Yenis came over for lunch at 12:00. By the time we ate and I fed Noah it was time to get Evan. I was sort of in a hurry because I needed to be back at home by 1:30 for tutoring. I had planned on picking Evan up right at 1:15, but got there a few minutes late. When I walked in Wendy was changing Evan’s diaper so we weren’t able to leave right away. Then, Evan wanted to take his artwork home. They had painted cutouts of cars. I asked Wendy if we could take Evan’s home. She said that was fine, since she already had one for his folder. He made about 6 of them! I guess they figured out how to get Evan to do art. When we were pulling out of the parking lot we had to wait forever to get out. It seemed like everyone was leaving at the same time.

We got home about two minutes late and I quickly cleared off the dishes on the table for tutoring. I tutored the homeschool Algebra II student from 1:30 – 3:00. He took his online final exam with me and made a 100. He didn’t end up leaving until about 3:30 since we had to wait for his mom to pick him up.

While the boys were napping I did more laundry and cleaned.

For dinner, Evan and Noah didn’t eat much. Evan had a few veggie sticks and fruit and a Popsicle. Not real healthy. I think Evan’s throat may still be bothering him. He still sounds hoarse.

The boys are playing as I’m writing the blog. In a few minutes we’ll get them ready for bed.

Dentist

This morning both boys woke up early for some reason.

Morry worked from home today since I had a dentist appointment.

In the morning, after breakfast I went for a run with Evan and Noah in the stroller and Lizzy on the leash. I ran 3 miles again. It was tough. While I was running I saw a loose dog. As we got closer I thought it looked like Dingo, our next door neighbor’s barking dog. I couldn’t do anything since I had the boys and Lizzy with me, so I told Morry about it when I got home. We looked in the neighbors yard and Morry even knocked on the fence, but we didn’t see Dingo. Morry drove back to the spot (pretty far from our house) but didn’t see him. There really wasn’t much more we could do.

I had a 12:00 dentist check-up appointment. Morry fed the boys lunch and watched them while I was gone.

When I got home I put Evan and Noah down for a nap and was able to nap a little until I was woken by dog barking. I guess somehow Dingo made it home or he was never really gone in the first place.

Morry had a Capitol City Young Democrats meeting tonight at 6:00, so I got dinner ready while he was gone. When he got home around 7:30 we ate our pasta and soup.

Evan and Noah are in bed now, though Noah is still up. He’s playing with his bear. Noah has this musical teddy bear Aunt Susan got him when he was a little baby. Noah loves that doll and sometimes we’ll hear him playing with it in the middle of the night.

Starbucks and School

This morning I dropped Evan off and school and turned in his application for school for next year. Evan is going to continue going part-time on Tuesdays and Thursdays next year. They told us as long as the child stays in the same program they are guaranteed a spot for next year. Apparently, there were some parents at the school in line as early as 3:30am this morning. One of the moms from Evan’s class was one of them. She wants to change her son to M,W,F. I can’t imagine getting there that early. I hope we don’t have to do that if we ever want to change Evan’s days.

After dropping Evan off at school I met Yenis for coffee at Starbucks. We had a nice time talking, but Noah was very cranky for some reason. I think it was a combination of his runny nose and being tired. On the way home he fell asleep in the car and I was able to put him down for a nap when we got home.

I downloaded Skype on our computer, but I still haven’t tried it out. If you have Skype and would like to chat, let me know and we can try it out. We have a video camera on our computer so you would be able to see the boys.

When I picked Evan up at school he didn’t want to leave. He got really upset when we were leaving. He was trying to tell me he wanted something, but I didn’t understand what he was talking about. Somehow the teacher understood and we realized he wanted to take home the art he made today. Evan told me he used the fire truck to paint. I guess they dipped the wheels of cars in paint and rolled them on the papers. All of the papers were hanging up to dry so we took Evan’s down and he asked if we could hang it up at home. When Kevin saw Evan with his art, Kevin wanted to take his paper home as well. We put Evan’s art up on the fridge when we got home.

Blanca came at 3:00 and I went to tutor. I got home around 7:30 and ate leftover Salt Lick bbq from Sunday for dinner.

We gave the boys baths and now they are in bed.

Day After the Super Bowl

Morry took Jack/Zayde to the airport early this morning. Morry wore his Steelers gear to work today. Do you think he was proud of his team?

Evan and Noah woke up around 8am. This morning I took the boys and Lizzy for a run. I ran about 3 miles (35min). It was tough, but I’m glad I did it.

When we got back I colored my hair brown (temporarily). I needed to do something since my roots were showing. So, I decided to try brown this time. I put a movie on in our room for the boys to watch while I did my hair and showered. They were both very good. Noah played in his exersaucer and Evan watched some of the Netflix Watch Instantly movies that you can watch on to the computer for free with a Netflix membership. They had some fire truck kid’s show and Polar Express Movie that Evan chose to watch.

After that we ate lunch. Well, I should say Noah and I ate lunch, but Evan wasn’t eating much. Blanca came at 1:30. At 2:00 I did a study for AT&T. They had me install some wireless router using the directions they provided and talk about how easy/hard I thought it was to install. I got paid $75 for 45 minutes.

When I got home around 3:15pm the boys were napping and I was able to nap a little bit too.

For dinner Morry made tacos and rice.

After dinner we went to Wendy’s for Frosties. It had been a while since we got ice cream. Evan got his own kid’s size Frosty. He did very well eating the frosty. Hardly any of it spilled. Noah had a little of mine and Evan’s. Evan enjoyed feeding Noah very tiny amounts of Frosty.

Super Bowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers

Hello everyone, this is Morry. I'm sure everyone would be disappointed if I was not the one writing the blog tonight - the night the Pittsburgh Steelers captured their 6th Super Bowl Title. But I'll get to that in a minute.

The boys got up this morning around 8:30am. Rachel and Zayde got the boys dressed while I attempted to sleep. A combination of being able to hear them and already thinking about the Super Bowl prevented me from going to back to sleep.

We decided to go to the Cypress Grill for Sunday brunch. We had a coupon for a free breakfast meal so we thought we'd go there. We were seated right away but the food took forever to be served. Both boys were very, very patient the whole time. They were great. Noah ate a ton of stuff including fruit. We ordered a blueberry pancake for Evan. He ate about half of it and picked out some of the blueberries.

When we got home, we went outside and let the boys play out front. Evan rode his bike a bit, then he asked me to ride the bike with the bike trailer on it. He rode in the back. I have to tell you, that's really tough. Also, Rachel drew train tracks with chalk on the driveway. Evan was having a good time with his trains on the train track. Noah was crawling all around. He seemed to have a great time outside. There is a video of our time outside down in the videos at the bottom of the page.

We came inside and Noah took a nap. Evan played a bit more and then we put him down for a nap. While the boys were napping, Rachel got a call to tutor some girl. I guess it was a tutoring emergency.

The boys got up from their nap before the Super Bowl started. Matt came over to watch the game too. We ordered the Salt Lick barbecue to eat during the game and Rachel went to pick it up.

The game was intense. The Steelers jumped out to a lead and it looked like they were going to just blow the Cardinals out. But in the 4th quarter, the Cardinals came back and actually took the lead with 2:49 left in the game. But Roethlisberger and Santonio Holmes brought the Steelers down the field to win the game. Unbelievable. It was amazing. Just amazing.

Evan seemed very excited that the Steelers won the game. I'm not sure he completely understood what was going on, but he was excited because I was excited.

There are pictures below of the day.

Until next time...