Fire Trucks

We had some excitement late yesterday afternoon. Fire trucks and a half dozen or more firefighters arrived at our condo building. We heard the sirens and they got closer and closer and sure enough, they stopped right out in front of our building.

We didn't hear an alarm going off so we wondered why they were at our building (hoping that no one called them for a medical emergency). Since we saw them arrive and it was easy for us to step out on our balcony to talk to them, Matt asked if they needed to get access to any certain area of the building - that he could maybe help them out.

Turns out it was a false alarm. Our building's alarm company had called the fire department saying our main fire alarm was going off (when it wasn't). No smoke, no fire, just a faulty alarm. They wrapped things up and left. Less than half an hour later another fire truck arrived (this time without the sirens) because the alarm company had called them again. They ended up switching off the fire alarm breaker and our condo building had a guard walk the hallways last night to protect us until the fire alarm company could arrive to service it today.

Suffice it to say, I think it is every little boy's dream to see fire trucks and firefighters. They are so COOL! And this little boy is no exception. He loved it when I held him up high over the balcony so he could watch and see the trucks and firefighters.

Jay in Action

We enjoyed another nice spring weather weekend. Jay gets more active every week.

We barbequed some hamburgers on our grill which is on our balcony deck and Jay decided it was high time to investigate. Just like a boy he had to touch the dirt "crumbs" on the deck. Oh boy, Jay - wait till you are at Grandma's house where there is LOTS of dirt to play in!

Here are photos of him below. I just kept snapping pictures of him as he realized I was watching him from inside. And in the door he came! He crawls around so quickly and pulls himself up to standing on just about anything and everything, too (my legs, Dad's legs, a chair, a wall, the couch, the end table, the fridge).

These really aren't very good photos, but it was a little something to post today.

Swingtime, Herbs, and Fun

We enjoyed a great weekend with not much planned so we did what we wanted, when we wanted, where we wanted.

This Mom had this grand idea of how Jay would be and how he would react when he experienced his first swing ride on the local playground.

As is sometimes typical in this new role of parenthood, sometimes your thoughts and expectations turn out completely different than the reality.

I thought Jay would LOVE it in the swing. I had visions of him smiling, laughing, enjoying it and that he might want to do it for a while. As you can see from the pictures below, that wasn't exactly the case...

Jay tolerated it for a while, but he didn't even crack a smile during his swing time and seemed to really care less about the whole thing. Ha! Oh well, maybe he'll enjoy it more later when he is a bit older.

He enjoyed being at the playground, though. He loves to watch the other kids run and play. He just takes it all in.

I saw some planter boxes in the latest Crate and Barrel spring magazine I liked. Since I had some credit on gift cards from there I used a portion of them to purchase two planter boxes and wire planter hooks. Matt, Jay, and I then visited the nursery just down the road from us and we chose some herbs (rosemary, cilantro, dill, mint, chives and flat leaf parsley). I took advantage of the beautiful day today and planted them in their respective pots. I love how the herbs are both attractive and practical! I like to use fresh herbs when I cook, but rarely have I used them since they are so expensive to purchase in the grocery store. It'll be fun to use these particular herbs more often in our meals this spring/summer/fall.

I have a pot or two extra on our balcony so I'm planning to purchase some less-practical flowering items to cheer up the view out our dining room window even more.

I'll end today's post with a video of Jay taken the weekend we were at my Mom's house earlier this month (Saturday, April 11).

10 Months Old

On April 2 Jay turned 10 months old. To mark the occasion I took advantage of a terrific priced portrait package at JCPenney (which is conveniently very close to where we live). The portrait was distributed to his Great-Grandmas, Grandma, PopPop and Nana, and his Aunts, Uncle, and cousins for Easter.

For fun I decided to post a few baby pictures of when Matt and I were Jay's age. I think he has a good mix of both of us in his looks. What do you think?

Jay - 10 months old

Matt - approx. 10 or 12 months old

Me (Mindy) on the left

My twin sis Molly on the right

(Taken Easter Sunday, late March, 1978)

Easter Weekend 2009

Matt, Jay and I left Good Friday afternoon to head "over the mountains and through the woods" to Grandmother's house for the weekend. What a fun weekend we had with my Mom, my two Grandmas, my siblings - Molly and Scott, my sister-in-law Mandy, and Molly's boyfriend Scott.

At Grandma Amy's - Good Friday Night

Jay just finished enjoying some Saltine crackers for a snack at dinner

Bath Time After Dinner

Not super happy after getting in PJs

"Grandma, help me..."

Saturday morning the boys helped move my Mom's furniture. She is having new carpet installed next week and needed help moving the big, heavy, awkward pieces of furniture.

My brother tweaked his back moving Mom's living room tv (which he lifted and moved by himself - probably not the smartest move). Anyway, he was relaxing his back on the floor which provided the perfect opportunity for Jay to play with Uncle Scott.

Hi Everybody!!

Aunt Mandy took Jay for a ride in Great Grandma's wheelchair. Whee!

Shoulder ride with Dad. Notice what Jay uses as "handles."

Above is this video of Jay "walking" (with help from Dad). I keep forgetting I shouldn't turn the camera vertically for these movies. Sorry! Turn your head a quarter turn and enjoy!

Saturday afternoon we ventured into town. We helped Mom hang newly finished Easter banners that she had made for her church (they are beautiful!), we had lunch, followed by a visit to see the new shop on the family farm near my Uncle Dale's house, and a nice visit with Jay's Great Grandma Alma.Here we all are at lunch.

Above: Great Grandma Dorothy, Aunt Molly, Molly's boyfriend Scott, and Grandma Amy

Below: Uncle Scott, Aunt Mandy, Jay, and Matt

Above: Jay enjoying his Gerber Biter Biscuit

Below: The after effects of said Biter Biscuit - a very messy face


Back at home before dinner: Great Grandma Dorothy and Jay

Jay enjoying playing with the ball

Friday night all of us "young'ns" enjoyed a night out on the town while Great Grandma and Grandma stayed home to babysit Jay. Molly, Scott, Scott and Mandy, and Matt and I enjoyed attending a benefit concert/dance at the local Legion's Club. A local family has a terrific band (their voices and music are tight - they are talented) so we enjoyed their broad mix of music. I must admit "Barracuda" was my favorite song of the night, but that was tough to choose since they performed so many great songs.

Below are pictures of Jay this morning enjoying opening Grandma Amy's lower drawers in the kitchen. He crawls around and loves to open up the drawers and pull out the "insides."

We had a safe drive and arrived home this afternoon. Thanks so much, Mom, for hosting all of us this weekend!

We hope you all had a great Easter Weekend as you reflected on the sacrifice of Christ! He is Risen! Hallelujah!

Fun Weekend

Friday night Matt, Jay and I got together with our small group for our bi-weekly study (we're doing Max Lucado's "Facing Your Giants"). After our group study was done Jay enjoyed playing with Liam (who is 3). Liam is totally into Spiderman and had to read to Jay from his Spiderman book. I think you can tell from the pictures below that Jay really enjoyed it.




On Saturday Jay had so much fun wrestling with Dad on the living room floor as evidenced in the following photos. I just wished I would have videoed it. His laugh is just the BEST!

And we all enjoyed a nice long walk after getting home from church (and Jay's afternoon nap) this Sunday afternoon. The weather couldn't have been better - upper 60's, slight breeze, SUN SHINING (haven't seen that in a while). With the sun out Jay HAD to wear his new shades that Nana and PopPop gave him last weekend when they were here for a visit. He loves wearing them. We put them on him and he just smiles. He doesn't touch them or try to take them off. Well, actually he did take them off after wearing his shades for over an hour, but that is to be expected. He was the coolest looking dude in our town today. (Yes, I know we're biased, but we're allowed to be, right?)