That hurts my carrot!!!

"That hurts my carrot!!!" We heard it at least 10 times last night. So here's the story:

John and Evelyn were eating dinner. John, being a boy, discovered that a little baby carrot fits just right in his nostril. It was really funny, and finally the expressionless face I was working so hard on cracked, and I laughed! Since I had already laughed, I decided the damage was done, so I grabbed the camera. That's when Evelyn decided to stick a carrot up her nose, too (which she has never done before!). But hers was a little piece of carrot, instead of the whole thing, and when I asked her to take it out, she accidentally shoved it farther in. The more she tried to retrieve it, the farther away it got from her finger. Until finally the only way we could see any of it was to shine a flashlight inside and flare the nostril out. We tried everything we could think of to get it out. And every attempt was met with a tearful "That hurts my carrot!!!" (That made us laugh so much-- it's as if the carrot is part of her body!) I even had an idea that I felt certain would work. "Here, Evie, take a big whiff of this pepper shaker, and you'll sneeze that carrot right out!" No luck. Thankfully we know an ENT doctor, and he gave us some advice over the phone. When that still didn't work, he told us to come on over to his house. He pulled it out in a jiffy with his special tools, and Evelyn was so proud of herself for not crying!

Truman's 2-month doctor visit was today. He weighs 14.4 lbs, and is 24 inches long. Wow! He's grown 6 lbs and 4 inches since he was born. Aren't you glad we don't continue to grow at that rate? :)

T-Rex vs. My Little Pony

Where would you place your bets? On the strong, scary and ferocious, or the graceful, gentle and kind? We mustn't be too quick to judge by outer appearances. My Little Pony (whose name changes daily around our house: Lucy, Cathy, Laura, Canny, Lay-o) has some hidden dino-kickin' powers! And what is the victor's prize? Marriage! To the defeated T-Rex! Seeing Evelyn and John battle it out with their beloved toys was the highlight of my morning.

Meanwhile, Truman (who is now 2 months old) is growing bigger and cuter every day! When he smiles, I feel like nothing is wrong in the world. He has such a sweet and captivating smile! His hair is starting to grow back in... still quite dark! For weeks now I've been feeling like we're on the verge of him sleeping through the night. Hopefully that will be a reality soon! Here is a recent picture of Truman:

Last night Brad and I went on our first date since Truman was born (thanks to the Baca's for babysitting!). We went to eat at Olive Garden (thanks to a gift card from GW & Amy!), then walked around a few stores. We had planned to go walk at a park, but it was just too stinkin' hot!

On Thursday, one of Brad's students invited us over to his house for dinner, and cooked an elaborate meal for us. That's a first for us! We frequently invite the students to our house for dinner, but it's never been reciprocated. That was really thoughtful! It's neat to see the impact Brad has in the lives of so many of his students. He's so much more than a good chemistry professor. He's a good mentor, advisor, confidante, and friend!

I've decided to occasionally share some of my favorite recent quotes. We hear some pretty funny things around here from Evelyn! About a week ago, an old lady stopped us at a store to adore the 3 kiddos. After she walked away, Evelyn asked, "How many old people are there in this world, Mommy?"

If you consider yourself "old", and especially if you don't, please don't let her observations keep you away from us! :)

Beware the Chiggerbugs!

If you've ever had an encounter with chiggers, you know they leave quite an impression. It takes days of miserable itching to get over their bites! Everyone in our family is working on building up an immunity to them. If you saw our kids, you'd think they had measles or mumps. Or at least chicken pox! Usually chiggers are found out in pastures or forests. But we have a special supply of them right here in our own back yard, in the middle of town.

Besides the chiggers, summertime is great. I love our wading pool in the backyard that Evelyn and John play in for hours at a time. I can nurse Truman, prepare dinner, and load or unload the dishwasher... thanks to the pool! The best $2 I've ever spent at a garage sale! I love all the free activities sponsored by our city. I love ice cream and popsicles and the smell of sunscreen and freshly mowed grass. Yes, summertime is wonderful!

This picture was taken a few days ago when my sister, Faith, was here visiting. We went to a water park, and she splashed around with Evelyn and John. Another one of those wonderful summertime events!

Now, a note about Brad's post... the first post of our new blog! He did not misspell "gold" when he wrote "Fool's Golb". (Because I'm rather particular about words being spelled correctly.) He actually came up with the idea of that story by playing around with the thought that "blog" spelled backwards is "golb". If only I could think such deep thoughts, spurred on by a nonsense word like golb!