Walmart to the Rescue!

Look what I found while shopping at Walmart on Saturday! ON SALE! I couldn't believe my good luck. Rocky has been so excited about his official "Batman uniform suit," as he calls it, (NOT pajamas... so don't even try to tell him that they are) that he has refused to take it off the last 3 days. He even had to wear it to the gym yesterday. I was quite proud to be the mother of the Batmen, but I could tell by the looks of everyone else that they thought I was just a lazy mom who didn't bother to change my kids out of their pj's. Who needs them? Rocky was glad that his sidekick Scooby Jack had a uniform suit too, but that only HIS had the utility belt. He thought it was very appropriate since he is the boss... according to him.
And just in case you didn't believe me in the last post when I said I used to wear a cape... here is proof!
(You can click on the pics to make them bigger)

my friend Jaime and I at Girl's Camp.... Jaime, I think I've discovered where Choobie got his pencil up the nose trick!

Also, this last weekend, we took the boys up to see this cool old wooden bridge over a large creek. As you can tell from Rich's attire, we also traveled back in time to when the bridge was built. Jack slept through it, and we discovered that not only does Rocky have a fear of water, but also of bridges that go OVER water. Here are the before and after bridge crossing pictures:

Colds, Chitis & Caped Crusaders

That just about sums up our last few weeks, and it should explain why none of you have heard from us in a while. What began as the common cold quickly developed into something far more sinister... Chitis, which is Sorenson slang for bronchitis, because we are on such intimate terms with it now. Rocky and Jack have almost completed their physician prescribed amoxicillin, while I am just starting up on Mexican-manufactured Penicillin, which just reminded me of the "Found a Peanut" song.. Of course, didn't that person die anyway? Don't worry, my chitis isn't that dire, but I'm starting to wonder if these monthly infections the kids and I have been experiencing for quite some time now indicate a larger problem, such as an allergy to oxygen?? We exercise, take our vitamins, eat healthy and laugh constantly. Doesn't that guarantee moderate immunity? If any of you have theories or miraculous cutting-edge cures (that we haven't already tried and deemed ineffective), please let me know.


(Dad has taken good care of us all)

Rocky's recovery convinced him that he had attained superhero status and he, unexpectedly one morning, demanded a cape. Then, since Jack had greatly reduced his number of coughing spells, Rocky determined that Jack needed one too.

It was at this moment that I realized, without a doubt, that these children are genetically mine because I have been known to spontaneously don capes too... like at Girl's Camp during high school for no apparent reason. Rocky then informed me that he was no longer to be called Rocky OR David, but Batman. He pointed to his caped baby brother and called him Scooby Jack. I fail to see the connection. Robin seemed the obvious choice, but I applaud his creativity. I am also pleased with his choice of Batman, because I think that's what I used to call myself too (when I was 16). By the time Dad got home from work, Batman had decided that his cape was lacking and asked dad to make him a REAL Batman costume. After 15 minutes of scavenging around the house, this is what he came up with...

Best Buddies

This is how I find them every morning now. Yes, our six month old baby crawls and stands by himself. I still can't get over it. Shouldn't teeth and hair come first? So, yesterday I was writing an email updating my Grandma and Grandpa Moulton on our kids' collective antics and thought maybe I should be sharing these things on the blog. When deciding to conceive Jack (I won't go into the details), we were concerned that 3 years was too big of an age gap, that a second child might not give David the playful distraction we so desperately desired. Our fears were unfounded. Six months after Jack's birth, they already do everything together. Every morning, Rocky gets out toys for Jack first. Then, while Rocky tries to play with his toys next to Jack, Jack crawls all over Rocky, slobbering and clawing at him, but Rocky just laughs then screams in pain when Jack grasps a handful of his hair. I spend most of the morning pulling Jack off of Rocky. Despite this, Rocky insists on being wherever Jack is. If Jack is taking a nap, Rocky is in his room pretending to be tired while hoping Jack will wake up. He often loses patience and wakes him up himself. This is how I found Jack during his nap yesterday:


Please note that NONE of those toys were there when I put him down for his nap, just the regulation standard stuffed animal and blanket. Rocky said he needed all those toys to sleep. Since Jack wasn't asleep when I put him down, I'm assuming Rocky was right!
In the middle of the night, when Jack is screaming at the top of his lungs, we often find Rocky awake trying to help him. When I showed up the other night to take baby hyena away so Rocky could sleep, Rocky said, "No, don't take Jack away. I want him to stay here!" Yesterday, Grandpa Rick took Jack to the doctor's for his immunizations for me (an activity that I enjoy just as much as stepping on sharp objects in my bare feet or being punched in the face... actually I would prefer those things). After about 10 minutes of moping, Rocky said, "Mom, Grandpa took Jack away. Can we get a new baby? A new Jack?" I explained that we would keep the Jack we had and that he wouldn't be getting any more babies for at least... oh five years, if ever.
Jack also likes to participate in Rocky's home preschool lessons. In fact, to keep him interested, I pretend like I'm actually teaching Jack. Sibling rivalry for mama's attention is a great way to motivate. We've been working on letter sounds and sometimes Jack is the one to answer first! I about died laughing hearing him make the "A" and "B" sounds on cue before Rocky. Maybe I WILL teach Jack to read before Rocky. If only he would imitate his big brother by sleeping at night! So these rascals have a lot of fun together, always making each other giggle. There's no greater sound to warm a mother's heart than to see their children laughing and playing together. Now if only Jack could answer all of Rocky's "why" questions for me!!

A New Year... and Jack is crawling!!

Money is the root of all evil... and a great way to get your baby to crawl! Yesterday, I was doing some end-of-the-year organizing. Rocky was occupied and Jack was finishing his bottle and assumedly immobile, so I thought it was safe to go through the jewelry box and clean out drawers. Brightly colored objects and shapes were strewn everywhere, but off to the side was some cash I'd been collecting in a drawer. Jack caught sight of it, threw down his bottle, flipped over, lifted himself onto his knees and determinedly crawled his way to, you guessed it, the cash...a good 5 feet away! He clutched the wad of cash with a triumphant grin on his face! It's all about the benjamins.

Interestingly, the other night when Rocky ended up in bed with us, he tossed in his sleep and exclaimed with panic, "I need money!" I just about died of laughter. I swear that Rich and I don't talk about money all the time... or maybe we do. Something to look into. Well, Santa knows what to get the kids next year.


P.S. You're probably wondering why I've had so much time to catch up on blog posts this morning. Answer: Rich got an Xbox 360 for Christmas...

The Year of Jack

So I asked Rich what the best part about 2008 was, and he said, "That it's over." He had a point. Other than the family-filled finale, this year has been a tough one, between a sick pregnancy, rough recovery, rough economy, the loss of my grandpa and Jack's sleepless nights. So this year we had Jack and did jack. Double meaning. Not that we are ungrateful... it's just that we hope this next year is a little healthier and happier. You can always hope, right? But the year did go out with a bang!
A couple days ago, we had Grandpa Rick and Grandma Pam over for a late Christmas celebration.

Then last night, we brought in the new year with the Myers family and some good old fashion Guitar Hero jamming!

Rocky loves Santa

Santa came to our house while we were in San Diego, so when we got home Rocky discovered a few surprises waiting for him in the living room. His face was priceless. It contained a permanent toothy grin for the remainder of the evening.

Since then, Santa has become his favorite person. Over the last few days, out of the blue, he will get a starry eyed look in his face and say out loud in a voice of awe and reverence "Thank you Santa." We've had to "call" him on the phone a few times to let him know our appreciation, since Santa didn't get the loving hug of thanks that he was able to give his grandparents or the kiss he blew Grandma K's face while chatting on the computer. He looks at the sky when he thanks Santa, though, so maybe he correlates him with God, or Jesus, since it was HIS birthday. That was a little confusing for him. When I explained Christmas, Rocky asked, "Is it Jesus' birthday or Santa's? Who is Santa? Does Jesus bring toys? Why does Santa bring me toys?" Good question. I'm still trying to figure that out. So Santa is cool because he brought toys (not that I blame him for that.. he did find him a Toy Story Woody doll... not easy), while mom and dad gave him the boring stuff like bed sheets, socks and underwear. Next year, we will be the cool ones. Watch out Santa.

(Rich is sporting the new hat I bought him for Christmas. My plan to turn him into a "newsie" is almost complete!)

Santa brought Jack some of Rocky's old toys I had boxed up a year ago. Apparently, one year is the limit of Rocky's memory because he was equally excited about Jack's gifts. He kept saying "Wow Jack!" and debated who's toys he preferred. I'm going to continue this recycled toy plan next year. Sorry Jack.