dum dum dum dum

my sister in law mary is getting married in 11 days. wow! 11 days! that's really soon!
anyway, we're all in the wedding (except thomas, he just gets to be cute). this is little tayloe's ring bearer suit (the shorts and peter pan blouse do da, not the bubble suit. that one is thomas'). i really want to try it on him, but i don't have the guts. i know we'll mess it up.
he also has little white saddle shoe type things. he's gonna slay 'em, even if he doesn't manage to get down the aisle, which is really a toss up at this point. i have a feeling he'll do it, but i don't want to get my hopes up.
so look people, i need you to pray with me that it doesn't rain AT ALL next week. there can't be a puddle anywhere within 10 miles of mt. airy on saturday the 11th. not a single one.
no puddles, no puddles, no puddles ....

t3

ok i'm not sure how we got so lucky, but thomas is seriously the best baby on the planet. tayloe was a good baby. if it's possible, thomas is even better.
and big tayloe is such a sweet husband. all day i sit around and daydream about how my life sucked before tayloe came and rescued me from my evil and disreputable life and drove me away on a silver pumpkin carriage made of love and sacrifice. i've been in AA for 6 years now and sober as a polecat. god bless john mccain and sarah palin.
(obviously t1 hijacked my blogger mid-post while i was putting t2 down for a nap. however, he is a sweet husband and an amazing dad. and he can be rather funny).

but he looks so sweet

doesn't he? he certainly has moments, but don't be fooled.
obviously having a little brother is confusing. he cries, he stinks sometimes, he doesn't do much and yet he takes up a remarkable amount of his parent's time. what's a 2 year old to do? why, act like a blazing, mad maniac of course.
some clips from the week's highlight reel:
* at the park, he shoved a friend into the soccer goal and ran away with his arms in the air yelling 'GOOOOAAAALLL'
* swat, spit or do both at any human who tries to say hello in public. scowl when someone says 'you're adorable' or 'what beautiful hair.'
* launch tv remotes and the phone off the couch onto wolly's peacefully sleeping head.
* dive bomb off a chair. when you're ignored, stand in the middle of the living room and drop suddenly from standing to lying down (the way someone would if they'd just dropped dead) over and over until someone notices and tells you to stop.
* take your diaper off when you're supposed to be napping and scream 'PEE PEE, PEE PEE, PEE PEE, PEE PEE' until someone comes in and takes you to the toilet
on the plus side, he didn't pee all over his bed. for this, i'm thankful and also slightly proud.
luckily, none of this awfully offensive and at times embarrassing behavior (because none of it limited to the confines of our home) has been directed at his little brother. to him, he's incredibly tender and sweet. to us, though - specifically to me - he's punishing.
so unfortunately, the honeymoon is over. do you have any idea how difficult it is to be compassionate but really firm with a wailing, flailing little rager? sometimes i seriously want to poke his eyes out.
on the plus side, this can't possibly last forever and it certainly can't get much worse (knock on wood).
and he is pretty cute.
it's a damn good thing.

naptime

what a gorgeous saturday afternoon looks like at our house. i could nap too, but i can't resist the urge to just sit here and listen to the silence and enjoy no one needing anything. even wolly's asleep on his bed.
aaaaahhhh.

2 weeks

some recent shots. thomas went for his 2 week appt on tuesday. he's gained 21 ounces since friday the 5th. so he's up to 8 lbs, 15 oz, only i'm sure he's at least 9 lbs by now because he's a piggy.
here's how our night went last night. bed at 10, up at 1:30 with thomas. asleep again at 2:15. 3:30, tayloe comes in our room - something he never does. we're both too sleepy to get up, so he stays in bed with us until i can't take it any more and return him to his bed at 4:15. 4:20 the baby starts crying. i leave tayloe and get up to feed thomas. thomas goes back to sleep at 4:35 and t2 starts crying. i get in bed with t2 and fall asleep (of course) until i hear the rooster crow at 6. i go get in our bed, taking thomas with me because i know he's bound to wake up the moment i fall back to sleep. we sleep until 8:30.
somehow, i feel rested. i'm not even sure how that's possible.
that was one of only two (maybe three, i can't remember) really unsettling nights we've had. thank god for the new coffee shop down the street that makes a killer double latte.

1 week

one week down, 1,203,357 to go. or maybe more. but who's counting?
t2 managed to catch himself a cold, so he's been at his grandparents house since saturday. that's given t1 and i time with thomas and i gotta say, it's been awesome. so far he's an easy baby and is really predictable. i like that in a kid. he's also very sweet and warm and soft and i like that in a kid, too.
t2 is back tomorrow. today i called my parent's house and he answered the phone. hhhiii mama, he said. then he told me how he's been playing with pop and pop and grandjane's dog eddie and that at that very moment he was watching choo choo. he sounded so grown up. since when does he answer the phone and carry on a conversation?
i like this photo of thomas because of the furrowed brow. it's so hard to determine any features belonging to one parent or another at such a young age, but this brow is very very hard to mistake.
am i the only one who recognizes it?

happy birthday thomas bouldin

well, wouldn't you know the weekend tayloe and little t go away for 48 hours is the weekend i go into labor.
thomas bouldin emery was born monday morning (labor day!) at 7:52 a.m. he weighed 8 lbs 2 oz and is 22 inches long. he's got a sweet head of blonde hair and eats and sleeps just the way a baby should. he's named after my dad. we can only hope he's as kind, good natured and loving.
as promised, here's the charity water link. (note that i had to put that his birthday is sept 1 2007 because choosing 2008 wasn't an option). more soon ...