Author: Jodi

Tom and I took the boys to the Franklin Theatre this morning to see their very first movie on the big screen…Winnie the Pooh. What a treat…we all loved it and had so much fun!!!

Here are some pictures of the boys that I’ve taken over the summer…

In his twenty-third week, Roman is: enjoying three (and sometimes four) naps a day, waking up two to three times a night to eat, rolling everywhere…it’s his current mode of transportation, and getting his knees up underneath him during tummy time.

The boys and I took Jonas for his first dentist visit today. I ended up telling him about it the morning of, so he didn’t have much time to get worked up about it. He was excited until we were about halfway there, then he said, “Mommy, my tummy hurts”. I suggested it was maybe the curvy back roads we were taking to get there that were making him a little bit queasy.He was all smiles when we got out of the car, up until the hygienist called him back…then he started to pucker up (bless his heart…I think he thought he had to go by himself). So, I picked him up, held him, and told him I was going to be right there.

Roman babbled and smiled in his car seat at Jonas’ feet, Xander very seriously looked on from a special cookie monster seat at his side, and I sat right beside him with my camera at the ready. The hygienist was so great with him, and he was such a brave champ. His favorite dental tool was Mr. Thirsty. Yay for Jonas…what a big boy!!!

The other day we were watching Alison Krauss’ DVD, A Hundred Miles or More…Jonas loves to watch and listen to “Sawing on the Strings” over and over again. He remarked, “Look, Mommy, they all have their own thing to do and they’re all playing together. He’s playing the violin too…it’s like a baby cello.”

He cracked me up this afternoon at lunch too with, “Watch, Mommy, when we wave our fork real fast, it makes more forks!”

We drove out this morning to take a look at our new property.  It’s just over five wooded acres with a creek on the back…about an hour away from our house.  The boys had a blast tromping through the woods, walking barefooted in the creek, and throwing rocks in the water.  We’re looking forward to taking them camping.

Roman likes to help me put Jonas to bed. He was hanging out in Jonas’ room tonight in the middle of the floor doing some tummy time, when I took Jonas to the bathroom. When we came back, Roman was all the way over by Jonas’ bookshelf, checking out the books. It was the cutest thing in the world…it really looked like he was browsing through, trying to find just the right book. After we read books together, Jonas wanted Roman to lay down with him…we were cracking up at how he was trying to “eat” his jammies. I love sweet, fun moments like this one.

The boys and I had a real treat this morning…we met their Aunt Heather, Cousins Val and Annabella, MeMe, and Great Aunt Jean at Cheekwood to check out the treehouse exhibit. It was AWESOME!!! Each treehouse was based on a book…The Rainbow Fish (The Rainbow Fish), The Jolly Roger (Peter and Wendy), Ocean of Notions (Haroun and the Sea of Stories), Up and Down Again: A Hobbit’s Tale (The Hobbit), Walden Treehouse (Walden), Conch House (Lord of the Flies), and The Giver (The Giver)…they were all so interesting and unique.

I am so thankful that we got to go and to experience it with our sweet family…it’s always good for the heart to catch up and was such a blessing to have so much help wrangling my little wild men explorers.

At twenty-two weeks, Roman is: taking his first road trip to Virginia (to surprise Grandpa for his 70th birthday), smacking his lips at the table (he’s going to be SO excited about starting solid foods in a few weeks), enjoying having his own room, and learning how to sleep better at night.

This weekend we drove to Virginia (along with the rest of Tom’s family) to surprise Grandpa for his 70th birthday.

Tom had a fun idea for the trip over…making brownies under the hood…the boys loved helping Daddy mix everything together. We also enjoyed stopping off in Ferrum to hang out with the Longs (and Audrey!!!) for the night…we got to check out Uncle Rich’s awesome garden, eat a family dinner, watch the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics (what in the world?), and get a good night’s sleep (the boys shared a room and ended up sharing a bed…aw) before heading to Amelia.

Grandpa was so surprised (we love you, Phil!!!), and we loved spending the weekend with family, hanging out and catching up.

I realized later that I didn’t get a picture of everybody (I’ve been doing that a lot lately…it must be my sleep-deprived, mommy brain), but here’s a few pictures for you (I borrowed some from Grandma).

Roman enjoyed his time in the studio again with me while I sang a demo called “Honeysuckle Rose” for my dear college friend, Michael Inge, who was in town from New York City for a few weeks. It is always such a joy to sing and was so fun to reconnect with my old friend. Roman loved Michael as much as I do and played so hard with him that he fell fast asleep in his arms halfway through the session…aw!

Roman and I went to Vermont for the weekend to visit one of my dearest friends from college, Charity!!! Tom stayed home to take care of Jonas and Xander for me so I could have a mommy moment (bless him). Roman was a great traveler…he played, ate, and slept like a champ on every flight and was awake to check out the airport in between flights (my favorite thing was when we saw Jack White of the White Stripes walk by us before we left Nashville).

We had such a sweet and restful time visiting Charity, her husband Dan, and her seventeen month old son Cian. They live in a great cabin tucked in the woods of Vermont. We shared delicious home cooked meals, enjoyed long nap times with our babies, caught up over hikes and back road drives, visited the local farmer’s market, and listened to music (my favorite was listening to Dan play the bagpipes and hearing Charity sing…what a treat!!!).

Here are a few pictures of our time…I didn’t end up taking any of Charity and Dan but I did get one of Cian (he and Roman liked to sleep in the car at the same time…hehe). Here’s Roman sitting on the plane, hanging out in the airport, playing on the sheepskin rug (his favorite), laying in bed, hugging Charity’s childhood Pooh bear (I took that picture for Jonas), swinging in the kitchen, sleeping in the car, waking up from naptime with Mommy, listening to music at the farmer’s market, and enjoying a hike.

At twenty weeks, Roman is: blowing raspberries (at any given moment he has a chin full of bubbles and a chest full of drool) and shoving everything in his mouth so much that we’re wondering if he’s teething (we always narrate his response to new objects as, “Is that something I can eat?”).

At nineteen weeks, Roman is: learning how to sleep unswaddled and out of his bouncy at naptime and bedtime (it has been a struggle for all of us, so hopefully he’ll figure it out soon) and proving to be every bit as feisty, spirited, and vocal as his brothers.

The boys and I have really been enjoying berry picking this summer. So, we drove out to Boyd Mill Farm this morning to go blackberry picking.

When the boys carried their buckets up to be weighed and paid for, it was SUPER obvious that they had been eating a few along the way (their blackberry stained chins, shirt, and hands gave them away), but the berry farmers just laughed and didn’t seem to mind at all (and didn’t charge us any extra, even though I offered, for the delicious experimentation).

After nap time, we made blackberry sorbet and blackberry cobbler…yummy!!!

Roman enjoyed his first time in the studio. He came with me and hung out while I sang harmony vocals on my dear friend Lizza Connor‘s forthcoming children’s album, Commander Salamander. We had so much fun…what an honor, a delight, and a treat!!!

Here’s another host of Jonas-isms…

“I don’t like quiet time because I like to talk.”

“Mommy, when I grow as tall as you, I’ll be an adult.”

“But Xander will be curious, and he will want my balloon.”

“I’m three and a half…I’m almost four…and then I’ll be an adult.”

“Mommy, I’m sorry that I upset you. Can we be friends again?”

“I think he’s gonna go to high school with me when I’m four.”

“Why does God come out of our hearts?”

We had a great fourth of July…we stayed home, had fun, and just relaxed. It was one of the hottest days we’ve had in Tennessee in a long time.

Tom set up a water slide in the backyard for the boys…he rigged up a rain wand to pour down water at the top of the slide entrance and flow down to fill up the baby pool at the bottom. The boys had the absolute blast of their lives.

We also participated in our neighborhood’s first annual bike parade…a quick ride up and down the street. Tom led the way in the firetruck, Jonas rode his tricycle, and I pushed Xander in the stroller (it was too hot for Roman…for all of us really…so he stayed inside with one of our dear neighbors and had fun playing with her and her sweet boys). Having popsicles afterwards was such a welcomed treat.

The boys rode their tricycles in the empty fire department parking lot before dinner. And after they’d been in bed a little while (well, I don’t think Xander had fallen asleep yet), we woke them up to see the fireworks from our front porch. Jonas watched with sleepy interest for a little while, and then said, “Mommy, I want to go back to bed”. Xander clapped his hands and said, “Pop!”.