A Couple Pics From Today

Robert is enjoying tummy time and is starting to smile for the camera.
This was Eric's way of telling me to please not take any more pictures. Subtle, isn't it?
Another view of Beth showcasing her amazing style. (Along with her pet Zebra named Sunshine.)
Did I mention that he is now smiling for the camera?

January So Far

We kinda skipped Christmas on the blog. We'll see if we can do a retro-post later, once we retrieve the photos from the portable hard drive. So, moving on to January, here is a recap of the first few weeks of 2012.

We spent New Year's with Tyler and Kacey and their beautiful little Leah. It was loads of fun, and I think Leah got a taste of having a big sister who can't keep her hands off her (Beth). She handled the attention like a pro, though, as did Kacey and Tyler.

Here are the cousins, Leah and Robert. All together now, everybody say, Awwww!

Eric's front teeth have been loose for two weeks. One was dangling by a thread, but a strong thread. It got very crooked and skewed. Take a gander:

Yay! It finally popped out.

Naturally Eric placed the tooth under his pillow . . . and that darned tooth fairy didn't show! For school the next day, Eric wrote her a stern reprimand and placed it under his pillow. The next morning, he woke to a dollar and a sucker and a heartfelt note from the tooth fairy apologizing for the delay.

Sam, Mary, and Maggie visited as well. Robert loved talking to Uncle Sam. I had some cute pics of Maggie and Robert together, but they were only in their diapers, so we thought the Internet might not be the best place to post them.

White Christmas, bah! This winter's been dry as a bone until recently. We got our first snowfall a few weeks back. Ryan took the kids out and they pirated most of the snow in the front yard (and the surrounding yards) to build a snowman.

Here is Beth enjoying Papa's chair and reading to herself.

On some of the nicer days we were able to go to the park. Robert is a great sport about being all strapped in.

"Help me! Help meeee!"

Beth is also developing her own fashion sense. She never wears pants when a dress is available. And the more colors, the better. Outfits like these are the norm. I think it was Coren who said she wished kids could wear a sign with this disclaimer:

"I dressed myself. Mom had nothing to do with it."

It's been a crazy, busy few weeks. But rest assured, we're handling it with quiet dignity.

Ever wonder how you keep Eric busy for an hour? Here's what you do . . .

Just a note.

This will be really quick, but when Ryan gets home I'll try to tell more about our last few weeks. Till then, here is a quick clip.

Love and Logic for Chickens

Eric said something hilarious this morning. But first, some nuance:

*The kids’ favorite movie the last few weeks has been Chicken Run, where a group of chickens escape from a chicken farm by building a plane—a “crate” as they call it.

*Also bear in mind—Ryan is a hopeless tease.

This morning over breakfast, Ryan was teasing Beth, calling her “Muffin” and “Baby Maybe.” So Eric goes into protective older brother mode and tells Ryan he needs to stop or Eric’s going to get his crate and fly so close he’ll bonk Ryan’s head with the wing. Of course this only goads Ryan on—“What if I called her my sweet potato? How about Beth-bug?”

Then Eric levels the ultimatum: “You choose—the wing or the wheels.”

He explains that Ryan could either get clocked by the crate’s wing or ground under its landing gear. It was so funny to hear him using Love and Logic right back at us. (“Would you like to leave the park now or in five minutes?”) Ryan chuckles and says he’d prefer neither. “I’ll take a pillow. A soft, fluffy pillow. Like a marshmallow.”

Eric wasn’t having any of it. “Okay," he says, "you get the propeller.”

Ryan just stares at him incredulously and then bursts out laughing. “You’re one morbid kid!”

Once Upon A Halloween

Halloween came and went especially quick here. With the baby and all, it felt like it kind of sprung on us. In fact, we hadn't even gotten to downloading the pictures off the camera until we talked to Grandma Alleman tonight and she asked to see the kids' costume. This one's for you, Mom.

Here is Robert at one month.

Here are the kids ready to go trunk-or-treating the Saturday before Halloween. Eric would not be dissuaded from wearing Thomas again, but not having to whip together another costume for him sure made things easier on me. And Beth is not just any pirate. She's a pirate princess!

Behold!

Yo-ho! Hands off me treasure!

This was taken just before we headed out Monday night. Ryan is so in his element here.

Eric in his element.

If you can believe this, the picture was taken before he had any candy.

I was not motivated to dress Robert up, so we made do with a super cute teddy-bear hat a good friend made for him. Is this picture disturbing to anyone else?
Ryan here.

Halloween did kind of sneak up on us. I usually try to write a little something, but with the baby and all, I just never got around to it. So come Halloween Day, I went on a writing website I frequent with some friends and proposed doing a Halloween Bulwer-Lytton.

If you've been hanging around this blog long, you know the Bulwer-Lytton is the Dark And Stormy Night contest, where the goal is "to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels."

Here are a few of my favorites. Feel free to add more in the comments if you feel so inclined.

1). Of all the lycanthropic breeds, I had to be bitten by a were-Chihuahua.

2). After years of therapy, both emotional and physical, the troll felt ready to confront the Billy Goats Gruff about that fateful day.

3). "I know you're undead and all," Sophie cooed to Tyrone, tracing his bicep, "but I always go for the bad boys," to which he responded--somewhat awkwardly, due to half his jaw dangling by a few strings of cartilage--"Grawww?" which, roughly translated, means: "How fortunate it is that I dowsed myself in body glitter."

4). The witch drew one wart-rimmed, ragged, grimy fingernail across Barbara's creamy skin, and then said, "Let me tell you about the MaryKay products available for your skin type, darlin'."

5). Now the Hunchback of Notre Dame, he had class--alas, the Hunchback of Hot Topic never got invited to the same parties, and vowed revenge.

6). Russell never realized the problems dentures posed until he became a zombie; off he shuffled into the night in search of a good denture cream, and then braaaaains . . .

7). Gretchen puzzled at the bad rap step-mothers got as she paid the hitman.

8). In frustration, dread Cthullu destroyed another city, desperately searching for his missing teddy bear.

9). Gregory watched in horror as the small lump traveled up his torso and into his left arm, only for a gray head to pop out and announce, "I knew I shoulda taken that left turn at Albuquerque!"

10). Dracula, waiting atop the chilly and foreboding Empire State Building, began to despair that his date for dinner, Teri Fayed (on whom he intended to dine), would not be meeting him--not knowing that she'd been struck down by a taxi cab in her rush to meet him, and that now she languished in a hospital two miles away, losing all that precious blood he so yearned for.

Hope you all had a spooky Halloween! On to the holidays!

Our Tricker-Treat Baby is Here!

Ryan here--and so is Baby Robert Stuart!

Just prior to his arrival, I snapped a rare photo of Cassie in her last stages of pregnancy. Also pictured is Beth, posing oh-so-preciously with a baby doll stuffed up her shirt.

Good morning, angels!

Here's the proud papa with a five-minute-old Baby Robbie.

We were very blessed to have Cassie's folks, as well as Mary and Sam, here to help us witht the delivery and as we transitioned from two kids to two kids and a barbarian. To you gladiator-souls who sacrificed so much to be here for us--we salute you!

Here's Grandma Clines (Lela) with the barbarian.

And as for Beth: Beth kisses the baby. Beth sings to the baby. She hugs, pats, pokes, and generally smothers him. We've started calling her the mini-mommy.

And Eric's an old hand at this by now. He's so gentle with the baby and reads to him on occasion. Although he asked me once: "What happens if he doesn't like trains?"

Here's a nice side profile of Robert at a few days old.

Mary made the blessing outfit, and it turned out great. The tie is made from the same material from the quilt Grandma Alleman made for him.

Tell me he doesn't look dapper!

Here's a shot with Cassie before the blessing.

And one with yours truly.

And here is our up-to-date family photo, taken by Mary post-blessing.

While Cassie and I ran back and forth to the hospital, Grandpa Clines (Papa) heroically kept the kids occupied by carving pumpkins with them.

Here they are by the light of day . . .

But by night . . .

Here they are pictured with our two little goblins.

It's been a roller coaster ride of emotions and changes for us, but we are so grateful for the ride! Happy Halloween, everyone!

I know . . .

. . . it's been a while since our last update. But we've been a little preoccupied. With THIS!

Ta da!

Behold Robert Stuart, our latest addition. He's a robust, healthy little boy, avid eater, late-night opera star, erstwhile foe to diaper-changes everywhere, and the tiny center of our existence for the past few weeks.

All together now: Awwww!

Not to worry. More pictures soon to follow. But first, a message from our sponsor . . .