Daredevil!

Mitch and I escaped home for a day this weekend. Friday evening we went to the park with my parents.

Here they are trying to look like they're walking so I can take the photo. Further evidence that I have no hope for normalcy . . .

The park was a hit for Mitch, Grama,

and Grampa!

This drop-off slide was the biggest hit, by far. It was really steep - almost vertical for the first three sections.

Mitchell loved it all 7 times!
This kid may make me gray - wait that verb tense is wrong - has made me gray!

Happy Easter!

The bunny brought Mitch a book. He immediatly began to read.

Aren't his boots fantastic?

Pick it up and put it in the basket!

This is just after he discovered that the balls opened to reveal two precious jelly beans!

Bryan and the Mitchster ready for church. Bry hates this photo, but conceded that Mitch was so cute I could post it.

For the Record

The Question
Bryan and I field many questions on a regular basis, but the most frequent is a derivative of this: When are you having more kids? In an effort to answer this once and for all, we thought it prudent to share Our Plan.

Our Plan
As many of you know, I recently received my Master's degree and am now an officially certified teacher in Oregon (and Arizona). Can I get a woohoo? Along with the degree will come a pay raise beginning in the 2011-2012 school year (provided the school budget allows). So, it would be great to work the whole year and save up before we add to the family. Additionally, having a child in late spring gives us the entire summer to adjust and bond. May 2012: the ideal situation.

Our Reality
Mitch will be a big brother in early November of 2011 (or sooner!). Yep. You read that right. So much for Our Plan! We're excited to meet the next Little Johnson in 6 short months!

Chores!

We're trying to develop a responsible young man out of Mitchell, which means he needs to start pulling his weight around here. It's never too early for chores, right?

He "helped" with the dishes earlier this week. Oops, Mom, I think I spilled a bit . . .

Yep, he was soaked, the floor was soaked and the outfit was his choice.

Cool Shades

A favorite pastime is driving with Dad around the block in the truck (which is called a dada). I'm waiting for the day when they return with a police escort and a hefty ticket!

Mitchell as of Late

Hey! No cameras in the bathroom, pervert!

A snoozy toothbrusher and his Pop.

There haven't been many photos taken recently, but I forced some shots tonight for the sake of a Mitch update. Some of his recent favorites include: gingerbread cookies (leftover from Christmas), his book of Mother Goose nursery rhymes in which he likes to find "neigh-neighs," greeting his daddy when he comes home from baseball, wearing pants on his head as a hat, singing his pick-up song while putting away bath toys, and saying "I broke it," usually after breaking something though that's not required. His speech is coming along, but it still takes a trained ear, and even then it's sometimes impossible. If he would start saying more words, we'd all be happier. All in good time, I suppose.