30,000 Cows Oh My: Our Family Trip to Fair Oaks Farms

We admit it, we are fan's of Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe on the Discovery Channel. When I think that changing diapers is s diry job, I just watch Mike and realize that my job is quite good! There is always someone doing a much nastier job! Recently, we were surprised to see an episode of Dirty Jobs where they were at a dairy farm in Indiana. After seeing him assist with the birth of several four-legged little ones, clean cattle barns, transform poop into power, and work on the milking carosel, we knew we were going to have to see Fair Oaks for ourselves. Though it felt like we drove half-way to Chicago to get there (and we did), It was well worth the drive! We witnessed a the birth of a calf in the theater-style birthing barn, enjoyed an amazingly stink-free farm tour, adopted a stuffed calf complete with ear-tag, jumped like crazy on the "Dairy Air" jumping pillow, played on the playground, and ate the world's best grilled cheese sandwich followed by chocolate milk and icecream! We had a Moo-velous time!

A "NeeMee" is Born: Jonathan's Mother's Day Visit in White House

We were delighted to be able to spend Mother's Day weekend with my grandparents in White House, Tennessee. Though it was a short visit, Jonathan packed a lot of fun into his time with Great-Mommy and Great-Daddy. Highlights of Jonthan's trip included: rides around the yard in Great-Daddy's golf-cart with Snoopy-Dog riding shot-gun, playing with Great-JoJo and Great-Termite, eating grapes out-of the grape-truck, digging in the garden-spot, sleeping in Great-Daddy's arms during Daddy's Scrabble challenge with Grandmommy, giving Great-Mommy a Jonathan signature name: "NeeMee," eating homemade chocolate chip cookies from the cookie jar, and taking more rides around the yard in the wagon on the back of the riding mower. My grandparents are a wonderful blessing and influence in my life and to see them loving on my little one is one of life's great joys!

Grandma Gigi's Visit

Grandma Gigi came to visit us at the end of April. We were excited for her to visit since we had not seen her since Christmas! She was thrilled to put her eyes on Jonathan and see all that he can now do. We were tickled when she kept calling for us to "look at him" to see each thing he did that was new to her.

While Daddy was at work, we took Jonathan to Franklin to eat at Pizza King. He loved the train theme, especially the "choo-choo" that brought our drinks to the table. Grandma spoiled him by taking him to our favorite toy store, Imagination Station. She bought him several cars for his Thomas the Train set and a pair of dump trucks named Max and Monty. He especially loves his "BA-boose" (caboose) that plays the Thomas theme song.

Here comes the drink train!

Gigi and Jonathan enjoyed time at the park, playing trains, decorating the driveway with side-walk-chalk, and blowing bubbles.

Gigi brought an entire suitcase full of treats from Puerto Rico. While Efrain and I love the coffee the most, Jonathan's favorite treats are the pastries. Here he is digging into a box of pastelillos filled with guava paste.

Jonathan and Gigi had a great time!

Jonathan's Indiana Family

Living far from family can bring lonely days where our hearts ache for time with family. We miss everyday moments with great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. But, we are thankful that God has blessed us with an Indiana family. We have an amazing church family and wonderful network of friends that God has provided. These are some pictures from visits with our Indiana family during April 2008.



Jonathan with Taylor, Kelsea, & Chloe (aka "Tater, Kel-SEA, & Chlo-Chlo")and Daddy too! We have been swapping babysitting for dates with our friends Rob and Michelle since Jonathan was born. These pictures were taken while their girls were entertaining Jonathan at our home while Rob and Michelle enjoyed a much needed date. Rob (aka "Bob") and Michelle (aka "Chelle"), Jonathan's Bible class teachers, have become like Jonathan's aunt and uncle.



These pictures were taken while we were visiting with Dr. and Mrs. "B" and Miss Ruby. Dr. B is an elder at our church and a very experienced Grandpa who lavishes attention on Jonathan when we visit.


Matthew and Jonathan & William and Jonathan

Jonathan has so many good buddies from church and from our La Leche League playgroup. Matthew is one of our friends from church. Though Matthew is much older than Jonathan, he is very tolerant and patient with him. William is a LLL buddy. He came to spend a day with us in April while his Mommy worked. Jonathan and William had a great time playing blocks and swinging and sliding at the park.

Little Man Shopper

Great Mommy sent Jonathan some real "mana" (money) in the mail for his first shopping trip. She wanted him to get to learn how you get things from the store. I took him to Target and showed him the dollar section.

I learned something about him today -- he is such a man shopper! Did he browse? No. Did he look each thing over? No. Did he take his time and enjoy the process of shopping? No. He went right to the Curious George stamps and coloring books and said, "monkey . . . George." After getting the stamps, I showed him the other items in the section. The hat I was sure he would go for, he put on my head and walked off! He went right back to the George section and chose a coloring book with the monkey on the front. Then, like a man, he was ready to go!

He was proud to walk through the store on his own. He wanted to go down each isle with a register to pay. He had a hard time understanding, as I do sometimes, that though there are over 20 registers, they only run one or two. He found one with the light on, put his items on the belt (with a boost), and paid the cashier. Success! Thank you Great Mommy!

Jonathan's Ears

Jonathan now has mouse ears! At the end of March we took our first family trip to Disney World. It was a wonderful break from the gloomy, depressing Indiana winter.

We scheduled a character breakfast at the Crystal Palace with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet and Eeyore. We were not sure how he would react to the characters, but he loved them all! He was so crazy about them, that when one would leave, he would throw a mini-tantrum. His separation anxiety is worse with Disney characters than when he is separated from mom and dad! Even though he experienced some mild trauma, we decided the smiles were worth it and took him to a second breakfast with Goofy, Minnie Mouse, and Chip & Dale. Each character had a "handler" to keep them on schedule and to serve as a "bouncer" if they were rushed by kiddos. The sweet "cast member" following Goofy brought him to our table more than once. She was thrilled to see such a little guy react so positively to the characters. According to her, most toddlers run screaming from them. Jonathan sang the "hot-dog" song from the new Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cartoon to Goofy and he entertained us with his "hot-dog" dance.

The Magic Kingdom lived up to its name! Jonathan was mesmerized! Jonathan loved riding the steam engine, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, and had a glazed-over look all the way through the Small World ride. He was thrilled by Mickey Mouse and the giant fish following Ariel in the Spectro-Magic Parade. We now hear about Dumbo and "Tiggy" on a daily basis, and Jonathan still insists on wearing his ears!