Underwear Bear

Taylor emerged from his room looking like this and exclaimed, "RRRAAAAHHHHRRRRR, I'm the underwear bear!!!"

Fun at the dinner table

Molly (the dog) was liking her chances here for a snack. She usually camps herself as close to Autumn as possible knowing that Autumn usually is more than willing launch something over the edge or let her lick her hands. Taylor calls the things on his hands, "Olipes" (AH-lips).

Autumn's Dedication

Autumn was dedicated at our church, Rolling Hills, in Nashville. The lesson that we learned was the one should have your child dedicated when they are too young to walk or speak. Autumn refused to be held and everytime we attempted to she would perform the all too classic "baby back arch techinque" and squealed like an angry stuck pig. We were forced to relingquish her to roaming all over the front of the church where she made full use of her freedom. Eventually Taylor was not to be outdone and also wanted a piece of the action. At one point Taylor was playing my keyboard and Autumn was going for someone's Starbucks and then on to my guitar. At the time I was not really that pumped about the situation, but looking back it was really funny. After the service our friend Michael Kelley said, "That was the best baby dedication of all time!" It was a bit ironic since our verse that we chose for her was 1 Peter 3:3,4 - "Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes. Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight". Priceless.

Abstract Art

Lately, Taylor is into making interesting creations. Basically he goes around the house and finds anything that he can hold or forceably move and piles it up in some interesting way. One day I came out to the living room to find most of the contents of his room piled up in the middle of the living room (this was no small feat in terms of time and effort... I was deep into some piano practicing or something...) When I emerged from practicing and asked him what the heck he was doing he simply said it was "the junkyard".

Usually the creations resemble some type of abstract art as you can see in the picture.

The Nasty Pool Water

In keeping with the theme of the previous post...

Today when I got home I was chatting briefly with our sitter Alissa Rosenau when we noticed that the kids had escaped to the backyard. We looked out the window and noticed that the kids were splashing around in the kiddie pool filled with nasty rain water. Below are the pics that document what went down. And so goes another day for Daddy and the kids when Mommy is at work...

Gross!

I'm not sure if it is just my kids, or all kids, but it seems that they are consitently surprising me with disgusting things that they do. Of course, there is the typically love for mud and all things that get them dirty. I can definately see (and relate to) how fun this can be to a point. The poop stories have already been told. I caught Autumn using one of our play bowls that we keep outside to dip into a very muddy puddle of water and then procede to drink out of the bowl. I would think that the taste would have been deterant enough, but she seemed to rather enjoy it. It took some coaxing (and removing anything she could use as a cup) on my part to get her to stop. I guess this makes sense, if you also eat sidewalk chalk and then just take a swig of milk from your sippy cup like you're washing down a chocolate chip cookie instead of a writing utensil.
We have caught Taylor letting our dog, Molly, like inside of his mouth. He calmly explains that "sometimes me and Molly like to lick tongues."

Taylor explained this phenomonen best when he told me, as were getting into muddy rain water in our kiddie pool, "Autumn and Molly and me just like to be gross sometimes." Well said Taylor!

Learning to Love Jesus

Taylor has been asking questions about God for awhile, but I've noticed a big difference in his understanding and desire to know more lately. Last fall his depth of understanding is best summed up in the following quote, "Jesus in the Bible is in heaven and also in your tummy and in your head. See, Jesus, God in you head (knocks on his head). See how hard it is!" Trying, but getting details a little mixed up!

Lately, he has been thinking more about who Jesus is and asking questions. The other day while we were driving he asked, "Mommy, how did Jesus make all the world with only 2 hands. I think he must have needed at least 8."
Being able to talk about who Jesus is one of the most rewarding, but also one of the most challenging aspects of parenting as we seek to give truth in a way that a 3 year old can understand. (we actually got into a conversation about the trinity yesterday as I said that Jesus was God and he just said, "that's funny" when I told him that God is Father, Jesus, and Spirit, different parts of the same God.)
This Easter there were a couple of experiences that really helped open opportunities to talk and give Taylor a way of visualizing the gospel.
1. Our church had the stations of the cross in a wonderfully artistic and moving experience. I took Taylor through them so he was able to see some of the gospel story as we talked about it.
2. We also did a version of the resurrection eggs that my sister had sent to me using 6 plastic eggs. Each egg has something that represents a part of the Easter story (really the gospel). Taylor (& Autumn) really liked opening them up to see what was inside. One of the eggs is empty symbolizing the empty tomb. Taylor kept going back to that one and opening it up and loudly saying, "THE TOMB WAS EMPTY".

It is just precious hearing and being a part of his journey to know God. More than anything else that I desire for Taylor, I want to see him live his life in passionate pursuit of Christ. I love hearing him say now... "Mommy, I love Jesus, don't you?"

Protective Gear

Autumn likes to take showers with Mommy or Daddy, but sometimes the water gets in her eyes. Thus, she like to have a little protection now and then.

What the kids like to do in the backyard

I know, I know...we are asking for a trip to the ER. Taylor can't get enough of being in the tree.
...and riding his bike.
I would never get the mowing done if it weren't for the help of my little chubby worker.
Autumn is down with her tractor. Good thing she has her helmet on!
She knows she is cool.

High atop the furniture

The kids love to play on their kiddie furniture. Usually it involves them falling or lauching one another to the ground as you can easily see from these pics. Here the were rocking to Switchfoot, playing air drums. Autumn likes to copy anything her big brother does.

Shower Attire

Taylor likes to put interesting outfits on. This is what he chose this morning to get in the shower. Interesting...

Their First Easter Egg Hunt

The Many Faces of Daddy's Little Giraffe

The Mean Giraffe:


The Surprised Giraffe:


The Cutest Giraffe Ever:

Taylor on the Phone

Taylor like to talk on the phone now. Here he is talking to his girlfriend, NeeNee (Eden Grimes) who lives back in Iowa. They are betrothed to be married in about 20 years, as arranged by their parents. NeeNee dominated the conversation and Taylor listened intently and took notes as any good man should.

The Sweetness of Taylor

Tonight after I got done reading Taylor bedtime stories he turned to me and said "Dad, you are a great parent", and then gave me a huge hug. Times like these can melt your heart as a Dad.

Then in his usual random way he asked me, "How did Jesus make you?" Knowing that he was unaware of theological depths that he was asking me to dealve into, I just simply said, "I'm really not sure". Probably not the best Fatherly teaching, but at least it was honest.

Got milk?

WARNING: there may be some indecent material in this blog post! There was some controversy in the household about whether to share the following story, but upon reflection, it is just too classic to pass up...

I was giving Taylor and Autumn a bath the other night and saw Taylor bending over in a very odd position. When asked what he was doing, he stated he was "a cow". Hmmm? I still couldn't quite figure out why the body contorsion until further questioning. Now, as a medical provider we aim to use correct anatomical terms but for the sake of blog world, let me just explain it this way--as a cow, Taylor was "milking" himself, using certain a certain part of his body that would resemble a small utter. MOOOO!

Taylor's Big Muscles

Autumn's Present for Taylor

A few days ago, Taylor exclaimed from his bedroom "Molly pooped in my room!" I quickly heeded his call and discovered that in fact it was not a Molly turd, but rather it was a little fecal present so gracioiusly laid by his baby sister on the carpet in the middle of his room (she was walking around naked for a bit after her bath). The pragmatic genius that he is, Taylor quickly exclaimed, "Go get Molly, she will eat it!" To be fair, he was right, she would eat it, (she won't eat her own poop, but is more than willing to eat anyone elses...dogs are nasty, but we love her). Much to Molly's dismay, I declined his to follow through upon his idea and properly disposed of the turd myself.

A few moments later Autumn started to cry. I went over to her to try and see what was the matter. I couldn't figure anything out, until I noticed that she had something in her mouth. It was part of the TURD!!! NASTY!!!! I fished it out for her and she was noticeably thankful and relieved. I'm sure she'll never do that again.

Taylor the comedian

Taylor, now 3 1/2, has developed quite the knack for saying creative, hilarious things. Here are just a few examples...
1. While laying in bed (a classic time for crazy sayings), in all seriousness, he says, "We need to make a bugar house so I can keep my bugars."
2. We have a very nice next door neighbor named Wallace. Taylor asked if his name was, Mungus (the giant off of Dragontales).
3. His favorite cd is Switchfoot "Nothing is Sound" and Mutemath. He loves singing along in his Taylor way. A line from one of the mutemath songs is, "everything is breaking down to chaos", instead Taylor likes to say, "breaking down to chaox, baox,...many more made up rhyming words"
4. A couple of months ago, Taylor found a tiny feather from a pillow and wrapped it up in a ball of masking tape. He called him, Weeshi, his pet and carried him around in his plastic bag home for about a week. He still remembers his pet's name!

Maybe even more than funny sayings, I think Taylor might be more of a physical comedian. He loves to "dress up" by wearing lots of layers, partnering crazy combinations together, wearing costumes(the giraffe and dragon he and Autumn's favorite), or putting sweatpants on his head for dog ears. I try to give him freedom, but have tried to steer him especially when going to church. My first statement that people might laugh at him became not a deterant, as intended, but an incentive. He only says with confidence, "but I like it when the kids laugh at me!" It's hard to argue with that. I confess that often I find it so endearing that he leaves the house with ecclectic appearance and ends up bringing a smile (or maybe a sideway glance) to all we encounter.

Daddies Little Girl

Autumn has been a big fan of reading books lately. She seems to be able to focus pretty well for a young girl of 15 months. Oh how sweet our little baby. As a Daddy I already feel like I am ready to write the check for my baby girl for whatever she wants. Pretty scary.