Happy Almost-End-of-Summer!!

Not even close. Summer doesn't end until the two weeks of fall start the end of November. So. Far. Away. But schools started today in our area and it made me wonder what I'm going to do when Derek goes to school. I wonder if I'll record his first day of school on video. I'm pretty sure I remember my mom doing something like that for me. I wonder if I'll cry. Probably - I'm kind of a big squishy pile of mushy mom since I had Derek. Not that I wasn't a romantic before, but man, come on! I shed tears over warm fuzzies left and right! Geez!! Can't blame it on the hormones anymore. I'll probably wave him goodbye and head back to corral the other little hooligans, I mean siblings. Haha!

Enough rambling, I'm sure you want to see more funny videos and boy have I got some awesome ones...

I got an awesome deal on mega bloks from craigslist - 200+ bloks and a great storage bin for $20! WOOT! Mitchell and I constructed this tower just before Derek woke from his nap. It lasted all of 30 seconds...

After the demise of the tower, Derek's brachiosaurus completed it's own rampage

Derek got so excited seeing this video of his cousins, Isaac and Andrew, playing together. I can't wait for Liz and Lanae and the boys to come! Only a little while longer and then there will be 4 little hurricanes of fun! :D

The by-now famous "Laughing" clip

The Little Man-Skirt and the Hidey-Hole

So, here's an update on our life. Mitch is still working at Walmart. His crew has been cut down to three people (in two weeks, it will be two people) - normal crew size is six or more - but he's soldiering on faithfully and doing all he can to get more crew members hired. I am loving being a stay at home mom and I'm so glad Mitch and I agree that I need to be at home with the kid(s). No, I'm not pregnant. Not yet anyway. Give it a year or so. I've been able to find some creative outlets for both myself AND Derek (enter matchbox cars and mega bloks) which makes life a whole lot "funner" and fills our days. Good, better, best, you know. Speaking of Derek, here are some pictures of the little dude...

He's started to sit at the table (not during meals) and I think he enjoys feeling more grown up

He woke up with his clothes like this one morning and I just had to get a picture. That's a tank top acting as a.. well... little man skirt?

He thought he was so funny. Notice the "new" toy that Jeff gave him. Yep, we're working on him early. ;)



He sure does make a cute motorcycle!

He's so big! 30 lbs and 35 inches tall!

His new hidey-hole: under the bar stools

Being super stinking cute in his hidey-hole. I love the face he makes as he's crawling out!

The Doodle-Dids

Derek is 'Dorable. And funny as all get out. Not only does he talk, but he's starting to make sound effects - most notably explosions - and has such a quirky sense of humor. He loves to be startled and is started to realize I do cool things when I leave the house without him (like go to the library and Wal-mart). He loves his aunts, uncles and cousins but especially his grandparents. We look at pictures of the absent grandparents/aunts/uncles/cousins several times a week.

The First of the Doodle-Dids in this post
Not sure why he thinks throwing balls is such a funny activity

Speed bump! The calm before the destruction of his block city or lego tower

Sorry for the "flash-back" in the next picture, but reflective capabilities are just one of the reasons I love duck tape. :)

Derek loves buttons. Big buttons, little buttons, round buttons, but especially the rectangular buttons (see button on the upper left hand corner of the lovely thing in the picture) that control the lights. If it has a button, Derek WILL find it in less than 10 seconds. Then he will push it and (sometimes) bad things happen: he turns off computers, changes the channel at the worst possible moment or during the climax of a movie*

So, I had an abnormally brilliant idea - make his own button pusher!! And it cost me less than $12. Not exactly the cheapest toy, but it's a pretty big hit in sacrament (and nursery).

Behold!! The (Other) Doodle-Did!!! I'm sure you're glancing at your dictionary out of the corner of your eye, wondering what the heck a "doodle-did" is. Well, you'd have to ask my father-in-law that one. Doodle-Did is one of the many nicknames we have for Derek around here. We usually find him walking away from the scene of the crime looking for more buttons to push - hence the "Did" because he already "did" it. I think "Doodle" popped up because it starts with D. Haha!

Anyway, the idea is that Derek can flip buttons to his heart's content (rest assured, all wires and screws are hidden safely) and I might finally be able to take notes in sacrament for the first time in a year and a half. Next sacrament will be the first time since I made the Doodle-Did that I'll be able to sit in sacrament - I've been filling in as chorister - but now I'm free!

Derek seems fascinated with the buttons until he realizes there is no "effect" to his "cause." These buttons aren't attached to anything cool, unfortunately. But it still manages to provide a few minutes of peace during Sacrament meeting and THAT is priceless. :)

Tales by (and of) Derek

Derek is a chatterbox. Mom Heath calls him a Jabberwocky. I like that too. :) The problem is, he's the only one who speaks his language. He sure is cute though.

His newest face: the Fish Face. Personally, I think it looks like a "Magnum" or "Blue Steel" to me. ;)

I love how his bottom lip is almost always cockeyed like this!

Extreme closeup!!

Derek's version of insert-your-favorite-story-here. I wish I had a Derek decoder!

Love, love, LOVE this video. Kind of like the Derek Hat all over again. :D

Reading and Somersaults

I've been trying to take Derek to the local library here but since the temperatures are well over 100 degrees and the A/C is a bit wimpy in our car, I've had to keep postponing our outings. That doesn't keep me from postponing my outings though. :) I've managed to get to the library at least twice a month. Derek really enjoys the new books and he's learning to care for them properly.

Very beginnings of a sneeze - I caught him "reading" on the couch.

I love it when Derek climbs up to read because I can too! It's only for a few minutes, but what blessed minutes they are. Quiet, too. Haha!

To get these few seconds of footage...

...I have to watch at least 20-30 minutes of this. :)

Finally found my camera!

One of the rare moments that he's still and quiet. Thank you to whoever decided to produce How to Train Your Dragon!

Not quite, son.

Almost...

YAY! Got it!