This is happening in our home right now...

Thanks Mrs. Spice for the link..

He's sitting up!

I just realized I haven't posted a picture of Jeremiah in THREE WHOLE POSTS. What is going on here?!?!

So, J's sitting up. He's pretty hilarious, though, because he will suddenly throw himself back.

Looking good..


Looking good..


Still good...


Whoops!


Let's try the floor - this balloon is cool!

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

So last night we're playing with Jeremiah on the floor, our usual after-dinner ritual when I glance at Shawn and notice something on the wall behind him. Lo and behold, a SCORPION is in our house! I said "Holy crap!!" and Shawn seriously jumped when he saw it. What followed was a comedy of errors to kill the thing. First Shawn tried to smush it on the wall with a box. That did not work, and the scorpion fell to the floor and started crawling around. Both of us were freaking out. We clear all the furniture away and find the thing, and Shawn tells me to find something to kill it with. I exclaim: "Use this huge book that's right here!!" So he drops this massive book on it from like 2 feet above it. This results in a dead scorpion.

Right after, I get some glasses out of my cupboard because, well, I heard that scorpions can't crawl up glass and I don't want one stinging my baby boy. So J's crib legs now rest in drinking glasses.

*shudder*

Busia

12/17 is a sad day for my family. 2 years ago today, my Busia (Boo-shaa, Polish for grandma) passed away. I miss her still so much. She was an amazing person with a very full life. Busia was born in 1915, grew up during the Depression, and worked cleaning homes when she was just a girl to help support her family. During World War II, she joined the Women's Army Core (I think that's what it's called) and travelled Europe doing administrative work for the Army. She had lots of pictures of her adventures, skiing in Vienna, bombed out buildings in Berlin, and others that show an amazing history. After the war, she married my Dza-Dza (grandpa) and gave birth to my father when she was 39 years old. That may not be unusual now, but in 1954 I'm sure it wasn't the norm.

My Dza-Dza passed away in 1979 and Busia travelled the United States and Mexico with her sister, my Aunt Esther. She had the slides to prove it. I remember going to her house on Sunday afternoons and sometimes watching the slideshows of her adventures.

She was a generous and caring person. She was so patient with me when I was a teenager – there were a lot of weekends where I blew off going to see her to spend time with my friends. Looking back my heart aches because of all the time I missed with her. When I got older and realized how special my relationship with Busia was – she was the only living grandparent between my mother and father left – I started spending more time with her. She always groaned when she saw my clothes – whether it was tight jeans, a shirt that showed my belly, or high-heeled shoes. I think if she found out about my tattoos she would have fainted. She didn’t notice – or pretended not to – when I got my tongue pierced. I still remember her sometimes when she’d see me, or when I’d mention that the night before I got to bed at 3am – “Oh Boijia!” (I don’t know if that’s how it’s spelled.)

She wasn’t very affectionate and didn’t really talk about her feelings much. That was okay, because I knew she loved me even though she didn’t like the way I dressed or looked sometimes. When I moved to Arizona, she always sent me little cards and notes – and the one that made me cry was where she said simply: “I miss you.” I still have that note.

If only she were here now - she'd see Jeremiah and I know she'd be thrilled with him. Or see how well Shawn takes care of us, and be proud of that. Whenever I see a roadrunner, I think of her. She loved birds. I miss her so much. I love you, Busia!

(These are just scanned pics, sorry if they're not so great)

Shawn's graduation present

Shawn's mom generously gave Shawn a new coffee maker. We spent all afternoon playing with it. Latte anyone???

Congrats Shawn!

Today we threw a graduation party for Shawn. He finished his Bachelor's degree in the beginning of this month, and we just had some family over to celebrate. Of course, because he's the Grillmaster, he grilled all the food. We loved it.



Noah and Jake were here, and took Caleb under their wing - they had so much fun in this jumpy thing.




Jeremiah enjoyed it, too.



Noah was of course his usual hammy self, and Jake posed for me, too!



Jeremiah loved looking at the balloons and the tablecloth.



The boys loved the dogs...




And Jeremiah loved playing with Auntie Cher's face.


More pics of the guests:
Mick and Bill

Shawn and Ronnie


Anita and Caleb


Noah and Bill


Kris and....who's that?!? President Bush??


Why would you punch him, Kris??


Or you, Noah??


Shawn wanted a pic of all the 'moms,' and J of course:


Then J and I played on the floor...with the Prez watching over us.


And J playing with a balloon.


We had such a great day, Congratulations, Shawn!!

Bubbie (AKA Mea) is back!

Shawn's mom and our nephew, Caleb came to town for a visit. We picked them up yesterday at the airport. Caleb calls Anita "Mea" so that's what we may end up calling her, too! Unfortunately no pictures of yesterday...I'll upload them later as blogger keeps giving me an error message. Boo!!

Today was a fun day, too...I don't have any pictures but we went to Walmart and had photos taken of the boys together - they are really adorable and I can't wait to get them - and both boys were so well behaved, there were no fits thrown or screaming done. Then we went to Costco, where Mea bought us groceries for the next two months - thanks Mea!! By the time we got home, J was wiped out and fell asleep after maybe 2 minutes of crying.

It's Christmas in the Roland house!

We have a tree! This is the first time we've ever put a tree up...we don't have a topper yet or a tree skirt, and it's pretty plain, but we like things that way!


Cute pic of J and Daddy:


'Sup homies?


Mmmmmm cereal!


And a question for my mommy friends: Do you (or did you) let your baby cry him/herself to sleep for naps and during the night? I'm working on this with Jeremiah and as much as I hate it I feel like it's necessary to let him figure out how to fall asleep on his own. Daddy hates it, of course, but he's not the one getting up w/ baby in the middle of the night. Post either your thoughts, your success stories, or whatever so Shawn will maybe not hate it as much.

Happy Birthday, Bailey!!

One of Jeremiah's favorite friends turned 1 on Thursday. Today was her party - we made the trek to Gold Canyon and had a great time!

Bailey, Shanna, and Fernando all matched - it was so cute!




Peyton wanted me to take her picture in the big shower - it was a NICE shower, oh my goodness!!


Jeremiah, me and some of our very good friends!! I'm so blessed to have Shanna and Kim for friends.


They had turtles for pets! All the kids got a kick out of them...



And balloons are always great.


Jeremiah smiling at Peyton,


And he loved Miss Karen. (Mama and Papa loved seeing you too!)


We're so blessed to have Shanna, Fernando and Bailey for friends! We love you, Bailey, and can't wait for your next birthday!!

What a cutie...

Look at that hair! It seems like it's growing really fast now.




He loves the dogs.