August and Everything After

We've had a busy month. We said goodbye to some friends from Nashville who were here on an internship for the summer. Ryan & Natasha were very special to Nathan, so we had one last get-together at the Dallas Arboretum. It was so hot--we were dripping sweat by the end--but we enjoyed the beautiful gardens and fountains, and the display of storybook playhouses that is on exhibit right now. Nathan is convinced every car we see on the road is driving to see "Ry & Ta" (Ryan and Tasha), and the other day when I asked him where he thought the toilet paper goes when he flushed the toilet, he confidently replied, "TA!" Sorry if you get our sewage, Ryan & Tasha!






Our house is progressing. We went up last Sunday to discover we had a frame, then went up yesterday and found a roof, some siding, a fireplace, wiring, bathtubs, and plumbing! It's so cool to see it starting to take shape and know that in a couple of months we'll be living there. We'll be able to say "See ya, suckas!" to the obnoxious neighbors that live in our apartment complex, but we'll be sad to leave our ward--we're really growing to love it.

We're off to Utah next week for a friend's wedding, to see family, and meet our new cousin/niece, Brynlee. We're excited, and will post pics of that adventure soon!

Where has the summer gone?

I'm such a lazy blogger. Since I last wrote, Jake has taken the bar exam & started his interim job with one of the clients of his firm. I received a calling--2nd counselor in the primary presidency--and it's keeping me hopping. I'm learning lots from the women I serve with, and hope to be able to contribute even though I'll only be in the ward for a few more months.

Nathan is learning to count. He counts everything he sees, in his own way of course: 2, 2, 2. If I'm helping, it sounds more like "yun, two, tee, or, ive, si, se, eight, nine, ten."

To celebrate finishing the bar, we took Nathan to the circus. He loved seeing the elephants, which, according to him, say "boo-oooooo!" The show was a little long for his 19-month-old attention span, but he was corralled back in when we bought him some popcorn.




The other day I made soup, and asked Nathan to help. I put the crockpot on the floor so he could dump the vegetables in, and this is what he came up with:





I mentioned Nate's "smooshy face" last time. Here are the pictures. I'm lucky I got them, because he doesn't make this face anymore.






Here Nathan & I spent an afternoon inside playing with Playdoh. I started taking pics of him with the clay, then started focusing on his cute little body parts--toes, eyes, etc. I'm thinking when we develop these we'll make a body part book, featuring Nathan--I think he'll get a kick!






Last but not least, our house is finally started. Here is our lovely foundation:

Cute stories

Nathan has become quite a handful the past week or so. His favorite words have become "no-no" (even when he means yes), and "again," which makes for a repetitive day for his mom. He knows all his capital letters now, thanks to Leap Frog's Letter Factory DVD, so he is constantly calling out letters he sees as we drive (today was "Q" when we drove past Quizno's). He insists that I sing to him as we drive, so we've come up with some awesome songs. Here's our current playlist:)
*Wheels on the Bus (with family & friends added in)
*We Are a Happy Family (sung while holding hands, Papa is his favorite verse)
*Five Little Monkeys (I feel a little weird singing "five little Tashas" but Nate insists we sing it with people we know)
*Letter Factory ABCs (we sing it with "O" more than any other letter)

Nathan has learned to do a somersault on his own--we actually caught it on video the very first time he did it, so if I figure out how to post it, I'll put it up.

Nate is obsessed with babies right now, and likes to pretend to be a little baby. He likes to curl up in my arms and hear me sing "Rock-a-bye Baby" to him.

It's been rainy all this week, so we've been stuck inside. I did take him to the indoor playground at the Galleria, and Nate's getting to be a really good climber. He & I enjoyed a pretzel & watched the kids ice skate when we were done. He kept saying "Nate, Nate" while we watched--that's what he does when he wants something, or thinks he should be participating. Earlier this week it was "Cake, Nate" and when we rented a car for Jake to drive to the bar exam, it was "Nate, car-car."

We found out Nathan has something interesting in common with his cousin Kale, besides the red hair--our doctor confirmed that Nathan has a peanut allergy. I was suspicious when one day last week I ate popcorn with peanuts & shared with Nate, then he broke out in hives. I took him to a lab to have blood drawn & tested. The first time the nurse stuck him in the arm she lost his vein, so she had to do it again in the other arm. Nate barely cried, and when I asked him how many veins & how many bandaids he had, he bravely answered "two." Jake was so sad for our little buddy, lamenting the peanut-laden treats Nater will never enjoy: Snickers bars, peanut butter fingers & cookies, Reeses, etc. I figure that's more for us to eat! (Seriously though, it is kind of scary. We have to keep an epi-pen on hand in case he accidentally ingests peanuts. I hope we never have to use it.) I realized today it's kind of ironic--we dressed Nathan up as Mr. Peanut for his first Halloween, and now our little peanut is allergic to peanuts!

Learning & laughing

So no pics this post, just a few stories about Nate.
The other day Nathan made up a cute game all by himself. He stole a pair of Jake's socks out of the drawer and started saying "bone, bone." Then he went & found his stuffed dog, gave it to me, and started throwing the bone to the dog. Pretty creative for 18 months, I'd say.
Nathan is learning his letters. He know uppercase b, e, i, j, k, n, o, p, q, r, t, & w. That's almost half. What a smart cookie! We've been playing with letter magnets, tub letters, looking for them in books, basically immersing ourselves in letters! He also knows all his colors, thanks to Playdoh & crayons. We're working on animal sounds--his newest acquisitions are sheep, horses, & cows.
We love watching Nathan walk. He leads with his head, and recently has started walking backwards. He dances to any music he hears.
One of my favorite things he dos right now is his "smooshy face." He purses his lips like a fish when he's in a grumpy mood. It makes it hard for us to take him seriously when he's upset, since he looks so darn cute!
This is one of my favorite stages so far! I need to be better about writing down all the cute little things Nathan does. He is developing such a cute personality!

Our New House!!! (Kind of)

We haven't even broken ground yet on our new house, but the top & bottom house pictures are the exteriors we are trying to choose between. The other pictures are our kitchen & bathroom choices for granite counters, tile floors, and cabinets, and the other picture is us in front of our lot. More pics will follow as the house progresses. Let me know which exterior you think we should choose!

Uncle Ryan's 4th of July Visit

It's a rare treat when we get visitors, especially one as cool as Uncle Boogie! Ryan came into town after Nate went to bed on a Friday night, so when he woke up Saturday, he had the surprise of a cool uncle sleeping on the couch. We went to the 4th of July parade & Ice Age 3, where Nathan thoroughly enjoyed Scrat trying to get his nut. He still talks about Gat (Scrat) & Boo (Boogie/Ryan).

The Dallas Zoo

Nathan & I went to the Dallas Zoo with a friend from Nashville while Jake was at his Bar study class one day. Again, super-hot, but Nathan loved the giraffes, and learned his neck as a body part thanks to his spotted friends. I thought he would like the snakes, since he loves to hiss like Kaa in The Jungle Book, but they actually scared him. We saw an albino alligator, which I thought was pretty cool, even if Nathan was more interested in the netting that was part of the alligator's exhibit than the alligator itself.

Loving Summer

The top pictures are of Nathan & Dad enjoying time at the park. The park is a daily thing for Nate & Mom, but time outside with Daddy is a real treat!
The bottom pictures are of the Art Festival, which Nathan loved. It was so-oo hot, but our little artist endured the elements for his art, and created beautiful sidewalk chalk creations & helped with a community mural.