Boys

Boys are different from girls. Very different. I am not a boy. I do not think like a boy. I do not understand how boys think. I am beginning to understand a few differences between men and women. But not boys.

Have you read James Dobson's Bringing Up Boys? If you are a girl and you have sons, you should. These are the few quotes I am living this week:

"His mom has to watch him every minute to keep him from killing himself."

"It's a wonder any of them survive."

"Boys, on the other hand, are slower to learn from calamities. They tend to think that their injuries were caused by "bad luck." Maybe their luck will be better next time."

"What is it about the masculine temperament that drives boys to tempt the laws of gravity and ignore the gentle voice of common sense--the one that says, "Don't do it, Son"?

I never had to secure any piece of furniture to the wall with Elle. She climbed, but seemed to know what not to climb on. Or maybe she just listened to that voice. No one is ever going to buy our house because there will be 14,000 holes in the wall from me securing every piece of furniture to the wall. Sunday, Grady pulled his bookshelf/toyshelf over on him. Today, he pulled the easel over on top of him. Tonight, he has screamed bloody murder at least every five minutes from running in to a wall, falling on some toy and hurting his bottom, falling on his head from running, falling off of something from climbing, etc., etc. But he will be fine 45 seconds later and will do the exact same thing he just did to hurt himself. Amazing. I have at least two nightmares a month of something terrible happening to him. And to think that in just a few short months, I will have another one capable of such amazing "boy" feats.

If he wasn't so funny. If he wasn't so loving. If he wasn't so adorable. If he didn't say first thing every morning, "Pease, Mommy, can I have my milk pease?" And the occasional, "I luv tu, Mommy." I just hope I can do the best I can to raise him. And pray that the Lord protects him (because it's obvious I can't) and gives him a long, full life knowing and serving Him.

We'll leave the light on for ya

My car wouldn't start this morning. I realized this about 8:45 when I went out to crank it so it could be nice and toasty when we piled in for the trip to preschool. I immediately remembered turning the inside light on the other night to try to find a lost sippy cup (that probably had days old milk in it?!). I never found the sippy cup, but I did successfully kill the battery. Steven was on his way to an auction an hour away. Thankfully, I have a wonderful neighbor who let me take her car to school. I managed to transfer all three car seats, purse, backpack, garage door opener and necessary travel coffee mug with coffee to the other car in about 2 minutes flat. And we were off.

In other news, we are the proud owners of not one, but two baby teeth. The first one came in last Friday. Then, Reese took the weekend off before starting round two of teething. It really hasn't been too bad. See how happy he looks even when he's teething.

We've also been getting our exercise indoors these past frigid weeks. My sister-in-law and brother-in-law bought a Wii for us for Christmas. My mom and sister got us the Wii Fit Plus. Every morning Elle wakes up and says, "Mom, can I do my stamp today?" (The body test on the Fit). Seriously. Every morning. Yesterday, she actually got "4" for her Wii Fit age. She was so excited.She really does have fun and can play a lot of the games. Grady... not so much. It is hilarious to watch him try. He does the Segway thing and goes around in circles and then dive bombs in to the ocean. Here you can see him testing the waters.

Maybe big sister can help.

Baby It's Cold Outside

It's been pretty cold here lately.

Cold enough to make your eyes do funny things.

But it feels good to be warm.

It's 6:55 and I already have one child asleep in the bed. He's the youngest so he goes to bed first most nights. He is also cutting his first tooth. He is also not sleeping during the day. I miss my happy-go-lucky, good napping baby. I know it's temporary. So today I held him. And held him some more. And carried him around on my hip. And then I held him. After that, I carried him on my hip.

The other two are in the tub right now. Don't worry. I have one eye on them and one eye on the computer. I am that good at multi-tasking. I've trained my eyes to look in different directions. Besides, the noise alone tells me they are just fine. Hope you all are staying warm. I think the low in a few nights is eight. That doesn't scare us Alabamians. We'll close schools the minute we see a snowflake. Or even a couple days before, just in case.

Happy 2010

I'm just going to summarize the holidays and say they were awesome. We had great time with all of our families. We are so blessed to be able to give and receive gifts. It was just perfect. Mostly because that little baby made it perfect long ago. I cannot believe it is 2010, but I am so excited about a new year. Lord willing, there are lots of great things in store for the Salter family. But right now, what's in store for me is my pillow. See you soon!

Very Merry

It really doesn't get much cuter than this.

Okay. Maybe it does.

Merry Christmas from the Salter family!

Unconditional

Even though they wear me out

I love them anyway

And this one too


All 17 pounds 10 ounces, 27 inches of him. Even with his first ear infection discovered at his 6 month well child check-up last week. Despite the temporary sleep disruptions. I love them. And I think they love me, even though they wear me out.

Circle City Christmas

When your dad works in the car business, you get winter hats with a BMW logo on them. She didn't seem to mind. I'm sure she was thankful her ears weren't freezing. (side note: do you call them "toboggans"? we used to have this discussion with friends, who weren't from the south, that they were not toboggans because toboggans were sleds, and you certainly don't wear a "sled" on your head.)

A little break from swinging to look for the birds


Saturday night my Dad's family came over for a lot of food, a lot of presents, and a lot of chaos. We were missing a few cousins and spouses, but all nine great-grandchildren were there. A highlight for me was this sweet thing. Her mommy was at a wedding, but she and her brother came with their grandparents (my uncle and aunt). Her mommy and I look similar and it was obvious she thought so too. I got some sweet loving from her!

This is just classic. Trying to get nine children, most of whom are under 5, to sit still for 3 seconds, while holding little babies, and see if we can get even half of them to look normal. You see Elle was doing her part to make sure Reese was looking at the camera. My grandmother looks pretty thrilled about the photo shoot too.

"A present for me? How did you know I love musical fish?"

Opening presents the next morning with Dad and Sandi

Trying to get a picture of the three of them

Thomas was a hit!


I don't know if you can see it in the picture, but my husband is currently wearing two car key rings as a wedding band (another perk of working in the car business--all the key rings you need!). Why in the world would he do that, you ask? Well, he says his ring is too small. But now that I think about it, I haven't seen his actual ring in awhile. Perhaps this Christmas every kiss will begin with "K" in the Salter house. And on that note, I hope you are singing the Kay Jewelers commercial in your head.