Luke's Hav-attack

Luke is so busy keeping up with his cousins this week. Both of them have tanks or containers where they keep the creatures they find on the beach or in the canal: crabs, shrimp, fish. They call these their habitats - but Luke doesn't understand. He calls his wagon full of water and creatures a "hav-attack". We try to tell him it's a HABITAT. He disagrees that this is because "first you attack your animal and then you have him so it's a Hav-Attack"!

Fourth of July 2009

The Belmont family is spending the Fourth of July holiday at Dauphin Island. We spend mornings and evenings on the beach. Luke tries real hard to keep up with his older cousins as they ride the waves on their tubes.

Jesse squeals at the top of his lungs when the waves roll in.

We all Scream for Ice Cream!

Our friends, Ghais, Sophie and Huck, came to visit from Virginia. Jesse and Huck became big buddies! Here they are sharing an ice cream at McDonalds. Hear Jesse "CHEESE" because he thinks I'm taking a picture.

Spaghetti Incident

This was an unfortunate spectacle - observe the protruding belly and "food drunk" face - a red ring was left around the bathtub and that's saying a LOT because our tub is mustard yellow!

Silly Jesse

Jesse loves spinning in place even though it makes him dizzy!

Starting his list for Santa...

The other day, I was driving Luke to school and we were listening to a CD that has Bible stories and songs on it. This particular song and story were about Jesus walking on the water. Luke said he wanted to walk on the water like Jesus. I went into this big long explanation about how only Jesus can walk on the water which makes it a miracle, etc, etc...

Luke says, "That's okay, I'll ask Santa for special shoes so I can walk on the water like Jesus."

Georgia Aquarium

I highly recommend the Georgia Aquarium! Lots to see and do. Next time we will probably get a "Atlanta City Pass" and see more than just the aquarium and stay more than one day. This was the first road trip we've taken with both the boys somewhere other than the beach house. We kept telling Luke we were going to Atlanta to spend the night and then we would go to the aquarium. When we checked in at the hotel, he asked the desk clerk if she was "Atlanta"!

Easter 2009

This was the first year I think Luke understood about the Easter bunny and the first year that Jesse was able to join in the fun. I've included some of the highlights in the following slideshow. Luke had his first pixie stick and didn't understand why we couldn't eat candy all day long. He really didn't want ham??!! What, were we kidding, ham? instead of candy? The boys were really cute in their matching outfits but Jesse's didn't last long on him because he crashed before lunch and was only wearing a onesie for the egg hunt. Luke did not want to cooperate with posed picture taking anyway - who was I to blame him? Neither was I!

Cruisin' 2009

Every year the wonderful people at Big #1 Motorsports (namely, my in-laws) send outstanding employees on a cruise. Well, outstanding employees and certain daughters-in-law... :) Johnny felt he needed to spend the time at work so I got to take my cousin, Anne. Thanks to some quick work by her husband and his parents, she was able to arrange child care to come with! We had a great time - relaxing by the pool, playing cards, listening to my iPod - being carefree! The food was great and the company was entertaining. I got to know Anne a little better and enjoyed time "with the girls". It was a great trip. Now, can I get Johnny to let me go without him next year???

Jesse loves playing with trains!

Jesse has really caught on with the "Thomas trains". I think it took off when we went to the Thomas train exhibit in Calera a couple of weeks ago. I had to pry his fingers from the trains when it was time to leave. Now he plays with them all the time and is mesmerized by the TV show. If I set up the track, he will move at least a three car train all the way around the table, through all the tunnels and over the bridge.

And if there's some part he can't get to, well, that doesn't stop him! He just climbs right up onto the table!

Five Syllable Words!

I know he's mine but I can't help but say it: What a smart boy!

Our Day Out with Thomas

Thomas was at the Heart of Dixie Railroad museum this last weekend. I was afraid we weren't going to get to go because of the weather and then next weekend, I'm going to be out of town. I decided to brave it and we went early in the morning because the sun was peeking out. When we got there, it was beautiful. Not too hot, not rainy, not humid. Just a little bit breezy and it was just right as Goldilocks says. The boys loved playing in the tent with all the trains on train tables with cool stuff: suspension bridges, draw bridges, different stations and engines. Jesse is really small in stature but he REALLY looked small in comparison to all the other 3-5 year olds. Parents were asking me how old he was and were surprised to find out that he was only 15 months old. Luke was timid at first but eventually found a table and had a good time. The food was good and reasonable. The train table tent was free to play in. The moon bounce was free and there was free entertainment - a man with a guitar singing "I've been working on the railroad" and other fun kiddy songs. Of course, their sole purpose in everything being free is so that you will hit the Gift Shop - that's where they "getcha"! I won't divulge what I spent but it was more than the amount of cash I had brought with me and 'whew!' lucky for me (or was it them?), they took my Mastercard! In my rush to get out the door, I forgot my camera so I ended up paying way too much for the photo shop on location to take this really un-cute picture of my boys. But it commemorates that we were there and, despite the fussy faces, we had a great time!

My Husband

My husband loves his boys. He's still sort of a kid himself so they have lots in common. Luke begs him to play with him all the time. My husband has such a great imagination - he can come up with fun games to play, names for all of Luke's toy dinosaurs and ways to make the boys calm down when they're upset. I'm so glad spring and summer are on their way because the boys' favorite thing to do with their Daddy is play outside. Luke is learning to swing by himself with Daddy's help and my husband writes words of encouragement with chalk on the playset next to the swing for when he's not home. Jesse runs to greet his Daddy at the door when he comes home at night and Jesse's daddy can always make Jesse smile or laugh. My husband is such a great Daddy - I hope he knows how much I love him for that!

Spring 2009

Zoo trip with Mimi

My mom took the boys to the zoo on Friday, March 21. Luke could be a regular tour guide at the zoo - he knows where everything is and when he gets there he says "there it is" and then wants to move on to the next thing. Jesse hasn't been to the zoo since Boo at the Zoo and probably doesn't remember it, besides, it was dark. Mom said the biggest hit was the train. Guess who's teething?

Buzz Lightyear!

We were recently lucky enough to have received a couple of huge bags of hand me downs and Luke was so excited to see that there was a Buzz Lightyear costume - complete with wings(!) - in the bags! He loves Buzz and pretends that Jesse is his "Best Friend Woody"! He swings in the backyard on his stomach "Superman-style" and says "To 'Infiberty' and Beyond"! I hope it still fits him at Halloween...

gOoFy BoYs!

I expect craziness from a three and a half year old but I didn't expect my fourteen month old to follow suit!


Luke has recently given up the "t-rex" persona for now and has switched to a robot. he glued all the "buttons" on the box himself. he completed his ensemble with some pink goggles which he wears wrong side out! I must say its a nice switch from the t-rex screams and stomps. He just walks around and says "i am a robot - i am a robot" and the occasionally request to push the buttons after which he performs some stunt.

Now, Jesse has his own "robot hat" which he loves running around in with Luke! and boy can he run FAST! he is trucking it, considering Luke wasn't even WALKING at 14 mos! Jesse has also gotten lots of kudos via my Facebook account for his death-defying superman slide! check out this video!

The other stunts Luke's doing these days seem to be re-enacting the circus. he spreads a multi-colored blanket on the floor beneath our plastic slide in the den, stands at the top of the slide and says "Ladies and Gentleman, Boys and girls, children of all ages - Luke the magnificent!" then he runs down the slide and jumps off the end and lands on the blanket and says "Ta-dah!"

Luke is eating me out of house and home these days! Not only does he ask for seconds and thirds at meal times, he is snacking throughout the day! Thank goodness he loves apples, bananas, oranges and strawberries - and BROCCOLI!

Jesse is another story. He will not eat anything that is not a meat or bread. He will occasionally eat diced peaches or bananas. but I found out recently that he likes black beans. He eats EVERYTHING with his fingers -mealtimes are SO MESSY! I sweep and mop the kitchen three times a day! He will climb everything and I have found him sitting in the bathroom sink and sitting on the kitchen table! Its getting harder and harder to put things "out of his reach".

Jesse loves gym equipment. We recently went to a birthday party at the park and Jesse was a terror! The plastic slide in our den has never gotten so much use! I've also included a picture of Jesse immensely enjoying an "Ice Cream Cone Cupcake".

We recently had our cousin, Sylvie, over for a little while so her parents could have a date. Sylvie will be two this month and she and Jesse were two peas in a pod. She made sure he always had his drink with him, helped him up when he fell down and picked up anything he spilled. He patted her hair and followed her around like a puppy! We hope to do it again soon!

Thanks for "tuning in". I will try to post more as situations arise!

Jesse's First Birthday

Jesse Clayton Belmont turned one on January 2, 2009. He spent that day at the doctor's office with a double ear infection and pneumonia! Poor thing! So a couple of weeks later, we hosted his birthday party. Something small at the house with just friends.

Fun with silly string outside!

Big Brother Luke: "I'm HELPING him!"

Xander, Lily & Corinne readying their birthday blowers!

Kelle & Katie. Katie is three months younger than Jesse to the day.

Cousins Anne & Sylvie:

Jesse had his cake and ate it too!