Batchelor's Funniest Home Videos

Ride 'Em Cowboy

Exercising

Two-Year Check-up

Still a Big Boy

34 pounds - 96%

35 3/4 inches - 83%

50 1/2 centimeters (head) - 90%

(I'm thinking running back...)

My Little Man

Yesterday was so crazy that today I wanted to take a minute to reflect on our "little" Jalen and the blessing he is to us. He is such a fun kid. He is full of sass and life and goes 100 miles an hour. He does everything with gusto, whether it's singing, laughing, throwing a tantrum, dancing or eating - he does it with all of his emotions. He is so cuddly and affectionate. He loves to give and receive hugs. He adores his sister and does everything she does. He's her little shadow. He keeps us laughing all the time.

Jalen's funny because at home he's the life of the party, but in public it's hard to get him to crack a smile. Many people think he's somber or anti-social. Even David and I can't get him to smile if he doesn't want to. At home he is singing all the time, but when we go to our weekly music class, he won't sing at all.

I love this little boy with all my heart. He is the son I always wanted. He brings me more joy than I ever thought possible. He is such a blessing and I'm so grateful to have shared these two years of his life with him.

Happy Birthday, JJ!

Today was Jalen's 2nd birthday. It feels like we have always been together and the past two years have just flown by. He had a great birthday. Unfortunately, my camera had dead batteries, so the pictures we got didn't turn out as well as we had hoped.

Jalen has been riding a little toy broom for a while, so we got him a "real" horse.

He got a notebook with his own picture on it.

He rocked out on his new guitar.

But his favorite present was his Harley. He's an official Easy Rider!

He had a barnyard cake that slightly resembled the original.

And Baylie made (and ate) some of her own creations.

Jalen was happy with it.

 He rubbed his belly and said, "Yummy!"

We're especially glad that Grammy and Grandad could be here on their way to their mission in North Carolina. After all, without them, these two little children would not be part of our family.  

I love my family - so much more than words can say!

Mitt Mania

Tonight I went to my very first political rally. I had no idea what to expect.

We were advised to get there really early and we were some of the first ones there. The rally was scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and we arrived at 6 p.m. We held on to our front-row seat.

It was exciting at first.

But by 7:45, we were getting tired and a little impatient.

We were very excited when Mitt finally arrived.

I had heard he wasn't very personable, but I didn't find that at all. I thought he was great.

 And so was his wife.

He'd been speaking for about 20 minutes when Baylie said, "When is Mitt Romney gonna be here?" I told her that the guy up there was Mitt Romney. Then she said, "Yay, Mitt Romney!"

Baylie's photo with Ann Romney.

Baylie's photo with Mitt Romney.

Apparently Jalen is voting for Obama.

Big Sister Syndrome

My siblings say I suffer from "big sister syndrome." Apparently this is a condition where you get in the habit of sitting on the couch and asking a younger sibling to get something for you. I remember the first time I realized that this was a real thing. I was in my 30's and in a meeting, sitting at a table with my back to the door. Another woman sitting across from me got up, walked around the table and shut the door. I was caught of guard and pointed out that she must not be the oldest child in her family. Turns out she was the youngest. You see, an oldest child would have asked the person across the table - the one closest to the door - to close it.

So today I wasn't sure whether or not to laugh when Baylie stood up, handed her water bottle to Jalen and said, "Put this back for me." Where did she learn that?! And I was shocked to see that he did her bidding without batting an eye.

And here are more examples of how the big sister truly does rule the roost.

 What do real men wear under their tutus?

Nothing!

"Organdizing"

I am a definite Type A personality. One of the hardest things for me about living in an apartment is that we have zero space. It drives me crazy, especially knowing that we have a cute little three-bedroom home in Houston that someone else is living in.

I couldn't find a good picture of our house, so this will have to do.

I decided that we needed to organize the kids room to start off the New Year. Initially, all I wanted to do was buy a big blue tub with rope handles (see below) to use as a toy box. I tried Wal Mart and Target, but neither one had them. I was excited to see they had them at lowes.com. So I checked Home Depot

I saw the picture below on their home page. That's when the "organidizing" vision exploded.

We had a bookcase kind of like that in our front room. I decided to move that bookcase (or rather have David move that bookcase) to the kids' room and get all the kid toys and books out of the living room. Thank goodness David is a good sport!

There's not a lot we can do to a room since we're renting, but I'm happy with the results.

 

Last year we had taken Baylie's dresser and painted a stove top on it.

And now our living room has a lot more space (check out that dinosaur of a t.v.).

Enough space, in fact, to do yoga.