Hello, DHR? My Mother is Out of Control!

If our babies could talk, this is definitely what they would have done today. In a valiant effort to get the best Halloween picture ever, six Moms joined forces to set the perfect scene for a brilliant photograph. It included a black sheet, pumpkins, (TONS OF) candy, and of course, seven perfectly costumed children. To make it absolutely perfect, all the seven children needed to do was smile and look at the camera . . . all at the same time. I don't know if we really thought this would happen, but you can easily imagine that it never did. In fact, I think a total of three pictures even caught a partial smile from any of them.

This is probably the best picture we got all morning. From the left is Luke Chavers (monkey), Colt Parrish (bear), Ava Grace Yates (ladybug), Jack Peacock (dog), Canon (lion), and on the trunk is Julia Blank (peapod) held up by her brother Alex (Spiderman).

The whole ordeal was pretty hilarious. Not one single child was in a good mood when we started our photo shoot. They were all either due for a nap, a feeding, or just hating life at that particular moment. At one point, Canon, Colt, and Luke were sitting together. Luke and Colt were fussing, and someone said, "Hey, D. Do you think you could make Canon cry, too?" It wasn't long before he was fussing, and we got an excellent picture to show for it.

Poor Jack missed a few pictures because he just couldn't handle the chaos. This is the class of 2027 (minus Jack).

Alex (our almost-three-year-old veteran) was trying so hard to take care of his baby sister, Julia. She passed out in the middle of everything, and Ava leaned over on several occasions to check on her. As our neighbors drove by on their way to pick up last-minute Halloween gear, they slowed down at the corner to watch the crazy "newbies" trying to force happiness out of some very cranky babies. We haven't heard from DHR yet, so we're thinking we're in the clear.

Canon was seriously pooped!

After the photo shoot, we called in reinforcements from the Dads who had previously agreed to take care of the kids while the Moms had craft time. My mother had given me a Cricut machine for my birthday, and I was eager to play. All of the girls (minus Erica, who had plans with her in-laws) decorated picture frames to display our Perfect Halloween Picture. It took almost as long to pick out a good picture as it did to decorate the frames. We literally worked all afternoon, but we had a great time doing it. We're already planning a Christmas Craft Party to expand our creativity even further.

This is Alicia's - voted Cutest Picture Frame Ever!

This is Mary's - voted Best Gluer of All Time!

This is Mandy's - voted Most Meticulous Cricuter! I don't know if you can tell, but the bag at the top has "Luke" spelled out in tiny letters!

This is Erica's - hers was made by Mary & me, but everyone contributed ideas.

This is mine - voted Most Quickly Made Frame & Most Boring.

I missed getting an individual shot of Tuan's, but hers is at the top of this highly creative pyramid.

As if our day was not full enough, more of our friends came over to help us pass out candy to our neighborhood Trick-or-Treaters. At our old house, we had dozens and dozens of kids (some adults, too) who came out on Halloween night. Our new house (which is in a slightly more private sector of the neighborhood) did not prove to be as exciting. I'm guessing we had about twenty-five kids show up. We were giving them handfuls of candy, just trying to get rid of the 10+ bags everyone had contributed.

I think Canon really enjoyed Halloween, despite the trauma I put him through that morning. He loved playing with Alex in his Spiderman costume. And he and Luke made up after fussing at each other during the photo shoot. I'd say it was a good First Halloween for the King of the Jungle.

Lots of Stuff Worth Remembering

Over the last few days there have been lots of things worth writing about, so I'm just going to put them all in one short (yeah, right) post. First is the fact that we have gotten all of the babies together so much recently. Colt was Christened at church on October 11, and Josh and Mary had lots of people over for lunch. Of course, the moms wanted a picture with all the babies in attendance. I normally wouldn't do this, but I really wanted Canon to be in the picture . . . so I got him out of the pack n' play (where he was napping) and joined the group. He slept right through it, so I didn't feel that bad afterward.


Shortly after this experience, most of the babies were together again just for fun. Mrs. Sharon was unexpectedly out of town and Mary was home sick. Though I was back in school after Fall Break for Parent-Teacher Conferences, I cut out early to take care of the little boogers. Alicia was so sweet to keep Colt and Canon (and Ava) while I met with my last parent. I was only gone for about an hour, but 3:1 odds for any amount of time is never ideal. Thankfully, all three were pretty well-behaved and Alicia didn't have any problems. We called Mandy to bring Luke over and spent the rest of the afternoon chasing Luke as he crawled all over the house, tending to Canon's bruises from falling over, and rotating Colt and Ava from floor to jumperoo to chair . . . and repeat. It really was a fun afternoon.

This weekend we all got together again to watch some college football. This is Colt and Canon with Lola. She helped out a lot by entertaining the babies.


We had a really fun weekend with Canon. His upper gums are swollen and he's been pretty fussy, so I'm thinking a 3rd and 4th tooth are on their way in. We broke out the teething ring, which he loves. He also loves to chew on his Alabama pacifier.

And I have to mention Canon and Barry's new trick. Barry took Canon to the nursery this morning while I checked him in. When I walked in the nursery to drop off his bag, Barry called to me from across the room to "Watch this! Watch this!" He then held Canon's feet and balanced him in the air. Canon shrieked with glee - he loves everything Barry does! After church, Barry and Canon practiced their new trick every chance they could - in the parking lot, in the bedroom, in the kitchen. Barry made me take a picture, then spent the next twenty minutes on the computer looking at it and giggling with delight. Of course, I have to share.

Don't worry. He didn't almost drop him in the second picture - though it looks like he could have.

Finally, it is with great sadness that I report that Canon is turning into a little boy. I know he's technically still a baby, but he doesn't seem like it anymore. I put him in a t-shirt and blue jeans the other day and felt a slight twinge when I realized how much he has grown.

Because it has gotten so cool down here in the last couple of days, I went shopping for some warmer clothes. I had to go to the Toddler section. It's so strange to buy him pants and shirts rather than onesies. Barry and I can see in his behavior that he is so ready to grow up. Though he's still very mellow and content, we can tell how eager he is to move around more easily on his own. He is just learning to go from laying down to sitting up, and he's regularly rocking on his hands and knees. He just can't quite figure out how to move forward (though moving backward is as natural as drooling to him!). It won't be long now . . .

My Buddy

Ok, Ok. I'm going to copy Mary's blog because this was just too cute to pass up. It has recently become obvious how much Canon and Colt adore each other. When Canon returned from his one week adventure with his grandparents, Mrs. Sharon told us how mesmerized they seemed with each other on his first day back. They stare at each other, talk to each other, even reach for each other. It's really adorable. So, we shouldn't have been that surprised when Mary and I dressed them very similarly last week.


Mary stayed home from work to keep the little ones, and because it was a Friday, she took them to MMO at our church. When she returned to pick them up, one of the ladies there commented on how cute it was that we had dressed the boys the way we did. Not knowing what she was talking about, Mary looked at them and realized that this is what they were wearing:


Future Mr. Right and Mr. Amazing smiled back at her. Of course, Mary died laughing.

As if that weren't enough . . . because the temperature dropped about 20 degrees while the boys were at the church, Mary had gone by our house to get Canon some warmer attire. A few weeks ago, our friend, Tony, had sent Canon and Colt two matching Adidas outfits. He works for the Troy University Athletic Department, and they use Adidas gear to outfit their players. Mary saw one of these outfits in Canon's drawer and thought it would be cute if they both wore them. Of course, at this point, she had not realized she was about to dress Future Mr. Right and Mr. Amazing! It definitely made for a better story later, though!

When I drove over to pick Canon up, this is what I found. Mary had already been asked if they were twins.

What Will He Do Next?

In the last few weeks, we have seen some new developments in our already "very advanced" young son. Unfortunately, I am not the type of Mom who writes down every little thing on the day that it happens. Instead, I tend to recognize new things only after they have piled on top of lots of other new things. So, here's the run down of our ever-changing baby.

One day, a couple of weeks ago, I was sitting on the porch with Canon. I was sifting through websites that my students could use, and I had stopped momentarily on a site that had a pretty steady beat. Basically, it was low-key rave music (if there is such a thing). I looked at Canon (sitting in his own personal rocker) and saw that he was literally dancing to the music. His head bobbed in perfect rythm. I've attached a video to illustrate. Sorry the image is fuzzy. This is what happens when a glass lens moves quickly from a cold house to a warm, muggy porch.

Of course, I laughed hysterically and had him repeat his new trick over and over.

A couple of days later, we were driving to Winfield, and Canon grabbed my hand and stuck it in his mouth. He likes to put anything within reach in his mouth. I've been saying for months now that "he must be teething," but I had recently given up on this idea. Barry didn't cut his first tooth until he was almost one, so I wasn't holding out hope that this mini-Barry would be any different. . . Until, he chomped down on my finger, and something sharp scraped across my skin. After a closer look, I confirmed that there was, indeed, a tiny tooth pushing its way through his lower gum. I tried for a week to get a picture of it and was finally successful. I hate that I had to wait until he was crying to get a good one, but a Mom will do anything for a good photo-op.

Next on the list is the introduction of the sippy cup. This actually only lasted a couple of days because it was so unsuccessful, but we gave it a good shot.

Canon has been eating solids for awhile now, but he's steadily been increasing the amount he eats. I know how thirsty I get when I eat, so I thought he might feel the same. His bottle is just too filling to take with other food, so I asked the doc about juice. Once I got the go ahead, I went ahead. Canon mostly loved to hold it and toss it around. Occasionally, he would accidentally suck on the sipper and get some juice in his mouth. When he didn't automatically spit it out, he'd make a that-was-the-worst-thing-I've-ever-put-in-my-mouth face, then start chewing on the sipper again. We'll try again later.

Another of Canon's new endeavors is expanding his vocabulary. While "da-da" were the first legible sounds he uttered, he now sticks mainly to "ma-ma-ma-ma" and "ba-ba-ba-ba." It's pretty funny to watch him "talk." His lower jaw looks detached from the rest of his mouth as it bobs up and down. Sometimes he'll just make the mouth motions without any sound. Here is a short video of his babbling. The camera is a bit of a distraction for him, so he usually quits talking when I turn it on. There's not too much on here, but still too cute not to share.

Finally, the big one. Though he's probably still weeks away from crawling, Canon is making giant strides toward this feat. While staying with Nonna and Poppa, he began getting up on his knees and rocking once or twice before plopping back down on his stomach. While we were on the dock at the lake, I caught him practicing.

Since then, he's gotten much better. He rocks several times, then falls on his belly while trying to move forward. He at least seems to want to go somewhere. For awhile I was thinking that he was so laid back, he might always be content with just staying where he was. He seems to be growing out of this phase. He's also currently working on going from his tummy to sitting up all by himself. He gets in the right position to make the transition, but he just can't figure out how to move all that weight from horizontal to vertical.

It's amazing how quickly this little guy learns (I know, I know . . . all babies learn quickly). One day, he's not even thinking about doing something, and the next day he seems to be almost an expert. What will he do next?

A Word from Canon

Mom is always hogging the computer, so I never get to write anything. She's watching a Sunday Night Movie Special now, so I thought I could squeeze in a quick word or two.

Just wanted to let you know about my first week in Winfield with Nonna and Poppa. Mom and Dad were coming to the lake two weekends in a row, so Nonna and Poppa convinced them to let me hang out with them in between. I have stayed away from Mom and Dad once before when they went to Mexico, so I really wasn't very nervous. I communicate very clearly for a six-month-old. All I do is open my mouth and whine, and someone will eventually shove a bottle in. How hard can it be, really? Anyway, more about my week in Winfield. What a week it was! There was never a dull moment.
Aunt Leslie and Uncle Grant spent the night with us to practice for my future cousin, Xan. Uncle Grant fed me, and Aunt Leslie bathed me. I tried to make it easy on them by smiling a lot and not peeing on anything. I'm even pretending to be almost asleep here. Man, I'm good!

I had to make Uncle Grant feel good, too!

Look! I'm almost as big as Aunt Leslie!!

I also got to meet lots of Nonna and Poppa's friends. Nonna took me to lunch with all of her lady friends. I can't be sure, but I'm almost positive I'm the only boy that's been to one of these things in quite some time. I tried to make sure Nonna didn't regret taking me. Here I am flirting with the lady across from me.

Nonna also took me to Poppa's office everyday. I loved riding on Poppa's shoulders.

This is me with Mrs. Carol and also with Mr. Robert and Mrs. Camille. I've met them all before, so it was nice to see more familiar faces.


What else? I went for a walk with Mrs. Carol and Nonna in the park. And Poppa wrestled with me on the floor all the time. He would let me lay in bed with him, and I would just crawl all over him. I think he was surprised at how strong I was. It really wore me out, but I tried not to let him see.
Mom & Dad warned me this would happen! But don't I look cute!?!

It was such a fun week. When we met back up with Mom and Dad at the lake, they couldn't stop looking at me. I must have grown a lot. Now, I'm finally back home. I hope Mom and Dad can keep up with Nonna and Poppa's pace - never a dull moment!