Toby on the move

Jace came to visit for the day while Auntie KK worked. We went to the zoo earlier in the day. Auntie KK came back to have supper and spend a little time with us before going on home. Here's a little video of all of us but especially one of Toby wide awake and moving about some.

Toby's First Smile (6 weeks)

We got our first smile from Toby. Actually, Grandmother was the recipient of Toby's first smile. G'Mother and Papa came over for Sunday lunch yesterday afternoon. G'Mother was dabbing at Toby's mouth and he smiled right at her. He continued to smile at her for several minutes which allowed me to get from the kitchen to the living room and then to get the camera--amazing! Toby's right at 6 weeks old

Our typical Sunday Afternoon

After we've gone to worship God on Sunday morning we get to come home and have a nice family lunch and then spend the afternoon together as a family. Lately Grandmother and Papa have joined us for lunch quite often which has been so nice. Curt & Molly usually take Sunday afternoon naps and I try to flip through the newspaper. More specifically, I flip through the sale papers. As the saying goes, you need to train them early!

This was Molly last Sunday afternoon. Notice she's looking at the Toys R Us paper. :)

1st Trip to the Zoo

Today was Toby's first trip to the zoo. We went with our friends Nicole and Grace. It was Grace's 3rd birthday today and we were very happy to celebrate with her. It was quite a feat having Toby on my front and Jace and Molly in a double stroller. Thank goodness Nicole was there to help out! We had fun at the new Children's Center at the zoo. Molly loved chasing after the goats.

The Waiting Game...come on, Chicco

We have two children now. Ah, but you already knew this! Going to Walmart and Target is not a problem--there are shopping carts. Going to the mall, zoo (reference http://ridgehavenmaven.blogspot.com/2010/03/look-out-zoo.html) (As you can tell, I haven't learned how to link to my other blog posts yet. Can anyone tell me how to do this?), going to the library and the mall is not quite so easy. I have decided I for sure want a double stroller. The quest has been difficult, however, since I found out my infant car seat manufacturer (Chicco) doesn't make a double stroller. Curt and I have been on the hunt for a double stroller that will allow for our infant carrier.

In his quest to help me find the perfect stroller, my fabulous husband found out that Chicco was coming out with a double stroller in April 2010! Wonderful Day! All my dreams have come true! Wait, it's not here yet...so, the wait is on. Hmm, I may have to wait in a line at Babies R Us to get the first on the market. We'll see. In the meantime, I wait patiently for that day!

Look out Zoo!

I had lunch with a couple friends from work today. Well, a couple of friends I USED to work with but thankfully still take time to have lunch with me. Our family was given a great gift today. To celebrate Toby's birth and Molly's second birthday (at the end of the Summer), my friend Lisa gave our family a pass to the Zoo! We will have so much fun taking the kids to the zoo this Spring, Summer, and Fall! It looks like our first playdate at the zoo has already been tentatively scheduled for Mar 29th! Look out, zoo! We're coming to visit!

Thanks Lisa! Great gift!

Here's a picture from our trip to the zoo with Amai and Cousin Jace last Fall 2009. Amai, can you come back and join us for our next zoo adventure?

Learning to Climb

The Moll-ster has got just tall enough that she can clamber around. Her latest accomplishment is climbing onto the couch (or anywhere else she can). Check out this adorable video! She CAN climb up the couch but many times she looks to one of us to help her up.

An aside: Note that the stripes on her tights stop at her knees. These are actually 0-6 mo tights--maybe it's time to buy her some 18 mo tights! :)

Toby's First Bath

Yup, it was time for Toby's first official bath! Toby was just shy of 3 weeks when this inaugural event took place. Yes, we probably should have done it before 3 weeks had passed but you'd think keeping his "top and tail" (as the British would say) clean was not exactly difficult since Toby hasn't exactly been playing all that hard. :)

I'm not so sure Toby was all that impressed with his first bath. He wasn't too happy with getting a dunking in some warm water and cried through the whole thing. He sure enjoyed being bundled up and cuddled afterward.

Fine Dining at Chez Gathright

Thanks to my two Gathright sisters-in-law Curt and I were able to have a beautiful dinner a couple nights ago. Our table looked so pretty with my Johnson Bros china that the gals have been helping me collect!

I made a new recipe from the Taste of Home cookbook (courtesy of Lisa Lynn, for my birthday). We had Chicken Wellington which is basically a pan-seared fillet of chicken then baked in a pie pastry. Yum yum. Dinner ambiance would not be complete without lit candles, fancy salad (in the plastic-ware) and baby in the bouncy seat! Molly had been next to us in her high chair but she was long gone by the time our plates were clean.

Repetition in a must in child-rearing. Each night before dinner we grab Molly's hands and prayer for our food. Tonight she actually put her hands out for prayer (yes, they were already dirty) before we had even started! And we're always rewarded with a beautiful smile afterward. We're still working with her to say "Amen" at the end of the prayer.

The Meeting of the Haskells

Saturday our family of 4 (still surprises me to say that) loaded up and made the trip to see all of my grandparents. We had not been to see any of them since Toby was born so this was the perfect opportunity to do so. We started out at the farm where my dad's parents (Honey & Papaw) live. We had show and tell and then a great lunch which included Honey's wonderful rolls and cinnamon rolls! Yum. I didn't even have to twist Honey's arm to get a picture of the great-grandkids with them. :)

Then we set off to my the home of my mother's parents (Meme & Papaw) where there was a baby shower in honor of Baby Lila and Baby Caleb. This was Toby's first introduction to his namesake: Haskell David. I think Papaw was really pleased that we named our son Toby Haskell. He said "now there's two Haskells" and got teary-eyed when introducing Toby to the other family members. Our entire family has been blessed by the Godly man Papaw is and the heritage he has given our family.

The Ham Pan

Do you remember the story of the woman who always cut both ends of her ham off before putting it in the pan to cook? When asked, she told her daughter that it was the way her mother had always made her ham. One day the daughter asked her grandmother about it and her grandmother said, "I don't know why your mother cuts off the ends of her ham but I had to do that so the ham would fit in my pan."

A couple days ago I was making some sweet tea for dinner and caught myself about to do something because that's the way my mother does it. Everyone does things a little different. My in-laws make boil water and the tea bags in a glass bowl in the microwave. My mother has always boiled water on the stove, taken it off the burner, put in the teabags, placed a saucer over the top of the pan and let it sit and steep before putting it in the pitcher.

Every time I make sweet tea (which isn't all that often) I catch myself about to do the same thing. It occurred to me the other day that my mom probably didn't have a lid that fit her pan. I, on the other hand, have a perfectly good lid that fits my pan just fine. So, rather than reaching for the saucer as I was about to do, I pulled out the lid and proceeded to make my sweet tea. Ah, the way our minds work! Now I'll have to go ask my mom to confirm the saucer/lid issue for me!

First Attempt at Craft Time - A Flop

I've been thinking Molly has needed a new activity--not necessarily a new toy, but something new to do. So I've been thinking we need to add a craft time to our daily schedule. I have craft items in the house, but more of the adult variety. I have scrap stuff, a sewing machine, quilting items, cross-stitch fabric and thread (although it's been a VERY long time since I've done any of that), modge-podge glue, a glue gun...well, the list could go on and on. What I don't have is crayons or finger paints or sidewalk chalk (although I did promise this one to Jace).

I've read of homemade finger paint using water, flour and food coloring so I attempted it. Well, the good thing is that it isn't toxic but nor did it have much color. I had great expectations that Molly would enjoy playing with it. Not so! She didn't like getting her fingers dirty nor did she like the taste of it (go figure). Ah! We can try painting with a q-tip (another suggestion I read about online). Umm, Molly still was not enthralled. This Momma needs some different ideas. I think I'll go pick up some crayons (only the Crayola kind--is there any other?) and some official finger paint!