Honoring Captain Jennifer Harris

After receiving our birth announcement, a few people have asked about the amazing woman that Josie is named in memory of, Captain Jennifer Harris. Jen was a Naval Academy classmate of Will's whom we both respect and admire immensely. She was also from Massachusetts. She went on to become one of the few female Marine helicopter pilots. The following video link from CNN and NPR link will tell you more about her story. She was a woman of incredible strength and courage and we can't think of a better role model for our daughter.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-683958894323677318&hl=en
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=7407239

Bedtime

So I have figured out how to capitalize using the caps lock key so I'm no longer e e cummings but am still unable to use some of my favorite punctuation marks. One of these days we will figure this out. Until then I will just seem bored all the time.

Just wanted to post a picture of last night's bedtime. Adorable. Totally prompted by Marshall too. I love how they both have their fingers in their mouths. Will and Marshall are wet because they had just finished watering the plants, and each other, before putting jammies on.

official baby holder

before i start i must state that in some odd state of affairs, both of our shift keys are not working. not only am i not able to capitalize, but i am also unable to use the exclamation point, by far my favorite punctuation mark. so i am not mad, or bored....i am just shift-less.

will's cousin amiee came to visit us this past week. it was great because josie found a new favorite person to sleep on. amiee became her official holder for the week giving me a break. must to my distress she became so good at it that by the end of the week, i am pretty sure that josie prefered amiee to myself. blow to my ego. marshall really loved amiee's visit too, except when she followed my instructions and turned off his television programs. i'm going to look on the positive side and say that this obsession with tv will lead to an interesting and lucrative profession in the entertainment industry.....or he will be the cable guy.

here's a shot of amiee fulfilling her role as official baby holder.

What's up Playa Playa?

I took both kids to the gym for the first time this morning. I drop them off in the babysitting room with the high school girl and I am a stress case. Josie is NOT the type of baby who will just sit in her carseat for an hour. She's a bit more high maintenance than that and will definitely need to be held. So I watch vigilantly on the TV monitor that shows the babysitting room, basing my workout around which machines will allow me to watch my children. There was a little crying by J by on the whole, everything went well.



When I go to pick up the kids, I walk in to find an tween-age girl kneeling on the floor with her arms around Marsh. She tells me he got a little scared by a part in Scooby Doo (the show the other children were watching) and wanted her to hold him. And then he wouldn't let her let go. To demonstrate, she attempts to drop her arms and he reaches down and puts them back around himself. Sigh.....Marshall likes the ladies.



And just because this picture is adorable, here are Josie and Will discussing current events. (Notice how distraught Josie looks.)

Marshall to the rescue!

Marshall had a blast this Sunday. First we went out to breakfast. ("Mommy what is this?!" "It's sausages wrapped in pancakes. I know, heaven huh?") Then we visited the fire station. My friend Sandy's husband, Rudy, is a firefighter in Seatac and he invited us for a tour. Marshall had a blast! We all know he isn't shy and he was into everything. And Rudy showed him everything, the tools, the aid car, where the firefighters sleep and eat, etc. Probably ranks up there as one of the best days ever for Marshall.

He got all buckled in and got to wear the mask.

Rudy hooked it up to the oxygen and tried to show Marsh how to breath in the mask, but that freaked him out a bit. When asked if he wanted to put the mask on again, he promptly said no.

Then Rudy pulled out the fire engine and Marsh rode shotgun. He had the lights and sirens going and everything. Marshall pulled down the headphones and put them on by himself, so Rudy put his on too and they talked "fire fighter talk". ("There's a fire in the tree! We need to get the hoses!")

Even though he couldn't hold his head up straight because it was so heavy, Marshall would not take this helmet off.

And Josie slept through the whole thing, sirens and all.

New Rule

I was reading my cousin Autumn's blog (she has three girls, ages 3, 2, and 1...and another on the way. And she still has hair....I know, Superwoman.) Anyway, she was writing about how she has a great rule in her house that only one child can cry at a time. I love that rule! So I decided to implement it today. We came home from a playgroup a little late and Marshall was cranky so he was in tears about not being able to watch a TV program. (And he says it just like that too. "I want to watch a television program!" Hilarious.) So I finally get him calmed down and washed up for lunch and Josie wakes up in her carseat and starts wailing. Marshall starts fake crying to make sure he gets just as much attention as his sister, but I told him,"I'm sorry Marshall, but the rule is that only one child in this house can cry at a time, and you already had your turn when we got home." Clearly I did not think this would work. BUT IT DID. He was like "Oh, okay, I'll just wait for my next turn." This is a fabulous rule. Now if only Josie would abide by it.... :)


So Josie LOVES tummy time. She laughs and smiles (and then inevitably burps and spits up...I think that's why she likes it so much. It gets the bubbles out of her belly.) She lifts her head way up now too. More than the 45 degree milestone (my children are so advanced :)). And she is absolutely adorable when she does it. Unfortunately, the camera didn't pick that up and here she looks like a very clueless/surprised old man. And I wouldn't be presenting an accurate picture if I didn't show you what happened immediately after happy, smiley time. :)

Oregon Trail...

Sorry for the lack of posts. We just spent about 3 weeks at my parents' house in Oregon and the computer was in Marshall's room. So I couldn't blog as usual when the children were asleep. That and I was on vacation and kind of didn't do much of anything. It was delightful. :) Marshall had a great time playing outside with Grandpa and the dogs. And Grandma taught him how to squirt the hose, which he promptly put into use by squirting her. Priceless. Josie is smiling a ton now and she loves to talk (hmmm...where'd she get that from?). She is in general a very good natured baby but when she wants something BOY does she let you know it. She is LOUD (again...I can't possibly imagine where she gets that from)

Here's a funny little story....so I was singing "Yankee Doodle" to Marshall for the 4th of July and he loved it, but unfortunately I couldn't remember all the words. So later I hear Marshall singing to himself, "Yankee Doodle went to town riding on a pony, Stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni. Yankee Doodle keep it up, Yankee Doodle Dandy! Something, something, something, something, and with the girls be handy!" I have scarred him for life. (I've also taught him the incorrect words to "Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting!")

Marshall's first popsicle. He didn't quite know what to do with himself.


Josie in mid laugh

Marshall thought this was the funniest thing he had ever done....until he got the basket stuck on his head.

The three amigos. Marshall really wanted to Grandpa to read his book out loud.