cohen pigs out

this boy loves rice

christmas cheer

Cohen loves our christmas tree skirt

Out of the mouths of babes

Safely for Cora, she is still considered a babe in my book.  This morning, after I had just gotten out of bed, I noticed her studying me and she said "Hey, Chewbacca!  You're not Chewbacca, are you, Mommy?"  (I actually got a good laugh out of that one.  Now, If Geron had said that....)

And for the other special words of the day, Cohen, our babbler, is starting to make sense.  So far, he hasn't been quite the talker his sister was.  He babbles up a storm, but mostly things we don't understand.  He said his first word on his birthday and it was "Alligator".  I had wondered if he was having some hearing difficulty, but mom said something about his toy alligator and the next thing we heard was "Ali-ga-tor!"  I think he babbles in his own language so he can say whatever he wants to say about us without getting in trouble.  Or maybe he's figuring out some secret scientific formulas, or speaking Arabic.  Anyway, this morning, he had a toy he was trying to get the lid off of and working pretty hard at it.  He looked up at me, holding the toy up some and said "OPEN DIS!"  

One more story that makes a mommy really proud:  Last night, Cora was reading her book "The Stable that Bob Built".  Its a Veggie Tale story about the Nativity.  She and I have been reading it together at bedtime for the past few nights, but last night she was looking at it in the living room by herself.  I heard her pipe "Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy!"  (The passage goes on to say, and she is learning this part as well: It is for all the people.  Today in the city of David, a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord.)  Cora turned the page and read/spoke from memory "this is the stable that Bob built.  This is the cow that mooed in the stable that Bob built.  This the guy who don't know how to milk the cow in the stable that Bob built."  She somewhat had it.  

Anyway, seeing precious milestones achieved makes mommyhood special!

happy thanksgiving

just a little message to all of you

Geron being Geron

If you've ever been around Cora when she's acted like a real stinker, than you have seen a glimpse of Geron.  

In the early morning hours, when its dark outside, it is practically pitch black inside our house.  Often I use my cell phone as a flashlight to maneuver my way through the obstacle course that is known as my bedroom.  Wait, people, it's clean.  Its just laid out differently and our chocolate dressers have no visible shape in the dark.  So, to keep from hitting them, I walk extremely slowly and try to feel my way through the room.  

This morning, I woke up and performed my usual routine.  I took a shower in our bathroom.  Next, I went to the guest bath to get dressed, fix hair, put on makeup, etc.  Then, I returned to my bathroom to hang up my towels and finally, I tiptoed out into the blackness of the master bedroom.  By this point, I've been through that room about 4 times this morning.  As I creep quietly across the floor, past one of the dressers---successfully not bumping it---WHAM!  Suddenly I'm clobbered with a pillow!  GERON!!  Raucous laughter irrupts from the bed and I huff off to the office to post what a stinker my husband is!  

I think this may be worse than having ice water dumped over the shower curtain.  

Points of Exclamation

Cora has been making attempts at exclaiming things lately.  She picks up phrases here and there and tries to use them in conversation.  Here are this weekend's attempts.

"Do You Believe That?"-

• Saturday, at a restaurant bathroom, she discovered water covering the floor around the base of the toilet and piped "Mommy, are you believing that?!"  

• And once again yesterday, in a church restroom, she walked in one stall and saw some leftover "2" that hadn't been flushed. She took one look at the toilet, politely but emphatically said "No", turned around and walked into the next stall. As we were leaving the restroom she asked "Mommy, can you believe in that?!"  

A thesaurus's alternate suggestion for "Good grief!" perhaps?-

• After church was over tonight, Cora was running around the church and tried to go upstairs to Pastor Matt's office---I imagine she was going for a sucker.  Anyhow, William, Pastor Matt's youngest and a year older than Cora, was on the stairs and wouldn't let Cora pass.  She told us all about it at dinner.  "William wouldn't let me go upstairs to Pastor Matt's office.  He was being disrespectful to me.  OH CLAMOROUS!  He was rude!"  (May have even been glamorous, but was amusing whatever the case!)By the way, William, thanks for standing guard.  You did the right thing, little man!

sweet kiddos

getting ready for bed

chow down

cohen loves his corn

new phone

so i have been waiting for what has seemed like years for Verizon to put out a decent smartphone. Now i have the droid running on the android operating system. It's pretty cool. I'm actually using it right now to write this. We wll see if it helps me to post more frequently. At least there should be more pictures.

A sign that you're getting old

Our youth pastor sends out a parent newsletter with a section called "Learn their Lingo" and it almost always reminds me that I'm getting older because there are often abbreviations or terms used in texting or chatting that I have no idea what they represent.  For instance, today I learned what a "last texter" is.  Like someone who always has to get the last word in, a last texter is someone who always has to have the last text.  I'm probably one of them, for that matter.

 

So, this post is about a sign that I'm getting old.  Here it is.  Last night, Cora Sophia was trying to do cartwheels in our living room.  We minimized and started attempting somersaults instead.  After I gave her a good push, she flipped, stood up and said "You do one, Mommy."  Before I could decline, Geron chimed in "Yeah, Mommy, you do one." and he started chanting "Mom-my! Mom-my! Mom-my!" And Cora joined in and was waiting with the most hopeful eyes to see her mommy do a somersault. 

 

I am all for modeling behaviors and what not to help your children learn, but there comes a point where there are just some things one shouldn't do, but should let the child learn by trial and error.  A somersault, if you are a parent, is one of those things. 

 

As they continued cheering, I contemplated "Should I do one?  The last time I did a cartwheel I saw stars.  But a somersault doesn't take as much effort.  Surely I could do one of those."

I got down on my knees.  I assumed the starting position and felt a little push from the backside.  "No, Cora.  Let Mommy do it on my own, please.  Move aside so I don't kick you."  Once the way was clear of all toddlers, I put my head on the floor and flipped.  IMMEDIATELY I FELT MY BRAIN DROP FROM MY HEAD, THROUGH MY STOMACH, AND INTO MY LEG.  I layed flat on my back on the floor with my eyes closed, silent.  After a few moments, I spoke.  Once Geron realized I was alive, the laughter broke out.  "YAY, MOMMY!" was the cheer from my beautiful (clueless to how much her mommy is crazy about her) little girl.  I said "Cora, now you may tell everyone that your mommy has done her last somersault ever."  So, she told her daddy.  And maybe she'll tell some friends at school today.  And in the meantime, I'm telling you.  And because I can't do a somersault anymore without my internal organs shifting a foot lower, I have come to the conclusion that I am getting old. 

 

Actually, the fact that I even attempted to do one is probably an early sign of Alzheimer's.

New Pictures of The Kids

Not a whole lot of smiles here, but O well...

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from geronbrown's posterous

Sweet Compliment

This morning, Cora was looking at me while she was getting ready and said 

"Your eyes are brown, Mommy.  I love those.  Jesus made your eyes brown."  

And when we were in Kentucky recently, we met one of my dad's coworkers.  She was a very nice lady named Marla.  We talked with her for awhile at the Plum Tree.  Later that evening, Cora said 
"Marla is nice, Mommy.  She loves Jesus.  I want to go to her house."  Just so you know, Marla didn't mention once that she was a Christian, but she is.  Even kids can tell!