It’s my turn, Junior… you always get the say.  Bumblebee here.  I promise to type better than I enunciate.

So Squeaker turned 1 on the last day of March, and while we didn’t have a birthday party at home, we had one for her and one of our cousins at the cousins’ house.  That worked out well, since they have even more toys (and more kids) than we do.

Here are some pictures of Squeaker’s first birthday. 

Squeaker wasn’t sure what to do with the candle. So she just sucked her thumb. What a silly girl, doesn’t she know the two middle fingers taste better? I’ll have to keep working on her.

She got a nice, pretty dress from Grandma and Grandpa M.

She sure liked the cake, though, as you can see in the next picture. Boy, if it had been chocolate she’d look like she was in need of a shave by this point.

The following pictures are from January, but Mom said we should stick them in here because they’re just so cute.  I happen to agree, though I think those pj’s looked better on me the previous Winter. 

The first picture she was caught off guard, but by the second picture Daddy made her laugh.

Here’s a video of Squeaker refusing to say “dada” and another of her after making a mess with the junk mail.  To be fair, Daddy left all the throw-away mail on the floor so Junior and I could throw it away for him, but Squeaker spread it out and crawled around in it before we could do our chore.

Here are some dress-up pictures we took at our friends’ house.  They have all sorts of fun outfits for kids to wear.  I was a cowgirl and Junior was a soldier.  Squeaker wanted to be a soldier too, but she only got as far as the hat before she giggled herself into goofiness.

Here’s a video of Junior and me reading together on the big chair, and Squeaker throwing a small fit.  Mom says she won’t be upset if you don’t watch all 4 minutes… but I think it’s worth your time.

Junior and I got a ride in Grandpa C’s wagon.  We LOVE to ride in his wagon!

And now for a picture of Moi!  I decided to try on Mr. Potato Head’s glasses at Grandma M’s.  They were a little snug.

And more of me… here I am eating a cupcake… or rather wearing a cupcake. 

And another video of Squeaker, walking with a push toy.  This was just a couple short weeks before she started walking on her own, which she did at the same age I was when I started walking – 14 months.

Here is an older picture, probably from January or February, followed by a picture of Squeaker from May.  Mom says that May picture looks just like one of her baby pictures.

And finally for Easter pictures.  We’re almost done with this post, which is good because I need to go brush my hair.

Here is Squeaker trying to take the large Easter basket Uncle Bill sent us.  Then there is the whole family on Easter Sunday… we kids weren’t cooperating for the picture, no surprise.

And lastly here is a video of our Easter Egg hunt, or part of it.

Well, thanks for paying attention to me – Junior is not always as considerate.  Maybe sometime we’ll let Squeaker be the emcee.  Mom says don’t expect another blog update (unless a miracle happens and she finds time to blog about our Summer by the end of August) until after baby #4 arrives, which will be most likely mid-September.  We’ll get back to you with cute baby pictures and videos, hopefully before October.  That’s all for now.  Bumblebee signing off.  Love you all!

Junior here.  We’re back with another update on Christmas and birthdays.  We hope all of you had a blessed Christmas.  Some of our professional Christmas photos are below, as well as some home shots, and a couple videos.  But first, the professional pics…

And now for the family shots.

We had a great Christmas.  Here are some pictures we took at home – we got some fun things for Jesus’ birthday. 

One of my favorite gifts was “Rocky” the rocking bull.  We play with him a lot!  Bumblebee got a baby doll and a stroller in which to push her.  Squeaker is upset because she wanted Bumblebee’s gifts.  Well, among other things she got a nice fleece blankie and some bibs.  She needs the bibs badly.  Of course Mom says we all need them, but I NEVER spill on myself… well, almost never.

And here’s a video of Squeaker being cute.  She’s always cute.  We love her so much!

Now for some pics of my birthday!  I had a great birthday – I got a car rug for my hotwheels and more new cars to drive on it as well as a car case to store my cars, a hotwheels “dealership,” a semi-truck that carries one or two cars, and a yummy firetruck-ice-cream cake… here is just a taste of the excitement.

And now for Bumblebee’s birthday pics.  She got a Leap Frog Fridge Phonics toy from our neighbors that we all like to play with, as you can see that I was fingering it before she even got to play with it at all.  She got some clothes and a book, a pretty pillow and an old-fashioned Fisher-Price record player, too.

And here are a couple more professional shots of the three of us kiddos (taken 12/10).

Well, that’s all for now.  We’ll be posting Squeaker’s first birthday and Easter pics next time. Thanks for visiting.

Just a quick test of the WordPress app for iPhone. I promise to post more soon!

Well, here we are!  Junior here… sorry to have kept you in suspense for so long.  We’ve been quite busy, as usual.  We had a great Fall, and an exciting week of vacation, which was kind of a first for us as a family.  We’ll try to bring you up to date over the next couple of blog posts, but for now let’s work on October thru November.

This picture was taken before October, but since we’re just so cute we thought we’d put it in here.

For All Saints Day I dressed up as St. Edward the Confessor, and Bumblebee was St. Rose of Viterbo.  Mommy made my costume, which she said took hours, and Bumblebee’s costume is mine from last year (after spending all that time on my costume Mommy didn’t have time to make a new one for Bumblebee).  Anyway, here we are, all dressed up and ready to party!

For vacation we first went to see Squeaker’s Godparents in the Quad City area of Illinois and Iowa.  We had a blast there – we got to play with their kids, Clare and Peter.  Clare is my age, and Peter is Squeaker’s age.  Here are a couple pictures from our visit with them.

After leaving Clare’s house we were going to go to St. Louis to see Daddy’s sister and her family, but I got a nasty cold, so instead of sharing it with them we decided to go home for a couple days and hope the vitamins C and D would work quickly so we could still enjoy some of our vacation.  It turned out they did work, and I was over my cold in just 2 days, so we spent those two days back in Kansas City, seeing some things we haven’t bothered to see in our own area.  These pictures were taken at Liberty Memorial, the World War I museum in Kansas City.

We also visited the KC Zoo while we were home.  Here’s a picture of Mommy and the three of us kids, followed by one at Crown Center, where we visited Fritz’s for lunch, and the train brought us our food – sure wish we had a picture of that to share.

When we took off for Arkansas to see Mommy’s cousin and then on to Oklahoma, it was lots more driving, but Mommy and Daddy said we did a good job in the car, all things considered.  I guess this next picture proves it.  Well, you can only see so much road and trees before you get a little tired of it… literally.

Anyway, in Oklahoma we spent a couple nights at a really neat hunting lodge in the rolling hills of the northeast corner of the state.  Even though it rained that first night we still had a lot of fun.  The next few pictures show some of the fun things we saw there – including the pet deer that “attacked” Bumblebee… well, it was trying to play with her, but the deer didn’t know how to play gently, so he knocked her over and pawed at her, but she was okay, just a little spooked.  She still hasn’t forgotten it.  Anytime we mention “deer” she starts pointing to her shoulder, where the deer pawed at her.  I think it’s her badge of courage – she’s pretty proud of it anyway.

The hunting lodge was a log cabin that used to be someone’s house many years ago.  It was neat.  And here are Bumblebee and I running on the “moving” bridge.  At first we were scared, but then we had fun.

So after we left the hunting lodge we headed home.  It was a good vacation, and we hope to go back to the hunting lodge when the weather is warmer so we can enjoy the outdoors even more.  But not sure if it will happen this year, as this will be the first Summer that mommy will have a big pregnant belly!  That’s right, we’re going to have a new baby brother or sister in September!  We just found out a few weeks ago.  Anyway, we will try to blog again very soon and catch you up on Christmas and birthdays (I’m 3 now, and Bumblebee is 2).  Until then, God bless you all!

Alright, so you’ve had a look at Spring, now let’s see how our Summer has been going – other than fast!  I have been trying to be a good helper to Mom, putting my toys and books away when she asks me to, and living up to all 33 months old I am now.  Squeaker is getting bigger  all the time (6 months old now!), and I love her so much!  She will be sitting up soon, and is already trying to scoot around like an inchworm on the floor!  Sometimes I play with her and talk to her if she’s a little fussy when Mom is trying to cook or clean.  Bumblebee (20 months) is not as excited about her, but she’s getting to like her more now that Mom doesn’t have to hold the baby so much.  Bumblebee is also getting bigger, and finally talking more – I can’t wait till we can have a decent conversation.  She used to always reply “uh-UH” to everything, now sometimes she says, “uh-HUH” and she also likes to point at the rest of us and call us by name “Mama, Dada, Dar, Baby!”  Well, she still has to work on my name, but she’s getting there.  Anyway, this Summer has been busy and fun.  Take a look below!

Here’s our midwife, holding Squeaker when she was just a few days old.  She was almost an April Fool’s Day baby!  Whew!  Boy are Mom and Dad glad they missed that one!

Wanna see Squeaker making little squeaks when she was only about 2 months old?  Click on this link and see her try to talk!

Squeaker squeaks… sort of

Here are a couple more pictures of Squeaker (one with Daddy), as she got a little bigger and cuter!

Following this paragraph is a link to a video of Bumblebee, before she was talking much, and about 2 weeks after she finally learned to walk at 14 months (within days of when Squeaker was born).  I beat her on that one!  I was 12 months when I walked for the first time… Mommy says she walked at 10 months.  Hmmm… maybe Squeaker will walk that early.  Anyway, Bumblebee had just finished a bath and….

Bumblebee all clean and showing off

Here are a couple pictures from our visit to a fun restaurant that hands out masks, raisins and crayons with paper for kids- we like going there!  Bumblebee was a piggy and I got to be a tiger.

Here is a longer video… of ME!  (Got a few minutes?)  Back in June Mommy decided to record me while I was reading my favorite book – “My Shoes Take Me Where I Want to Go.”  Only problem is that in the video I start in the middle of the book, and when I get to the end I go back to the beginning and read what I missed.  hehehe

Jr. Reads the Shoe Book

Here are some pictures of Bumblebee from this Summer, with 3 of the many expressions she likes to make.  She sure is fun to have around.  We love to play together, but sometimes we fight over toys.  I just wish she wouldn’t try to take my trucks and cars!

Don’t laugh… I just have this habit of putting on my head anything that looks like it will fit (remember the bucket from a few posts back?) – like the swim trunks below.  Then you can see me sitting on Daddy’s lap, spread-eagle.  I like to be like my Daddy.  🙂

Okay, three more pictures, and then I gotta scoot!  Here are 1) Bumblebee and I riding a zebra on a carousel, 2) The three of us sitting on the couch at home, being cute (of course!), and 3) Squeaker taking a nap and sucking on that beloved thumb!

Well, I hope you enjoyed looking at our blog.  If you’re lucky we might actually update again before Christmas!  Hope you all are well, and God bless you all!

Love, Jr. (and family)

We know, the same old long delay in posting… Mom and Dad apologize for that.  Many of you already know that three little ones keeps parents busy – after all, for the first time, the parents are outnumbered!  Mom and Dad are learning the ropes of keeping us all corralled while trying not to stifle our childhood.  And when the oldest of 3 is only 2 1/2, it makes for even busier times!  But I’m a good helper and carry the diaper bag for Mom sometimes.  🙂

This post is about our trip out East to see our friends in St. Louis.  We had a good time.  Mr. J and Dad flew out to CA to drive back a moving truck with a bunch of estate stuff, and Mrs. J and her kiddos, PJ and SJ, and Mom, Bumblebee, Squeaker and I all got to stay at the J’s house and play.  The first four pictures are from our outing to the St. Louis Zoo.  PJ and I are walking together in the second picture, and in the third and fourth Bumblebee is walking with our cousin and our Aunt, who live in St. Louis.  The last picture is of the St. Francis de Sales Oratory in St. Louis – beautiful church!

Recently the whole gang loaded up in the car and headed out west to visit some family members. Here’s a quick photo summary:

First things first, Bumblebee came marching in and took control of the situation — and the toy watering can that her uncle gave her.

Unfortunately Bumbles forgot to thank her uncle for this kind gift. I’m sure it was just a simple oversight… she’s usually quite thankful for the presents given to her.  Next Bumblebee demonstrated the awesomeness of her toy to her cousin.

Meanwhile, over in the kitchen, baby girl was stealing the show. Her aunt loves holding her!

Her uncle likes her — and her hair — too.

Junior was content to romp about outside. When asked if he liked visiting his cousins he just smiled. Or smirked. Or whatever this face means.

Maybe he was saying that he was more artistic with his chalk than daddy was with his camera. It’s possible…

Junior looks over his shoulder… is dad or mom watching me pedal toward the woods where I’m not supposed to be going?

Miss C-Bear borrow’s Junior’s bike — and insists she can’t drive and hold her doll at the same time.

Junior and C-Bear crossing paths.

C-Bear has some hair — or is it a ladybug? — on her face. Her daddy is on the case and correcting the issue.

Our new baby girl is getting a little — but not too much! — sun on this beautiful Sunday morning!

Her time in the sun completed, baby girl relaxes in her mom’s arms in the shade.

C-Bear went off the driveway… and gets an airlift back.

Junior’s “I bet you can’t pick me up!” taunt is answered by C-Bear’s dad…

C-Bear, back on the driveway, stops and smiles.

Junior took a vote and unanimously decided to stop smiling for the time being…

…and then held a re-vote which unanimously reversed the no-smiling policy. Silly sanguine!

C-Bear flashes another smile!