Fuller has lots of energy. It is really hard to get him to sit still unless there are straps involved. And even when he is strapped in to something like his feeding chair, he still manages to move his weight around to move the entire thing.

When I come home from work, D is usually in the kitchen getting dinner ready. This means I have time to go and play with Fuller (if he isn’t napping) and keep him happy until dinner is served.

Fuller interacts with me in different ways, talking his Fuller-speak (complete with meaningful inflection and hand gestures), handing me his latest Lego creation, and then taking off to be by himself for a little while. As he plays, I sit and watch my son move in his toddler motions, running, tripping, and stomping from room to room. But one of the best things to do is watch Fuller dance.

It always starts with a little knee bounce. He’ll throw in a “YEAAAAA!” for excitement, clap his hands to his imaginary beat, spin around several times, and, if he hasn’t fallen from dizziness, stomp in a way that reminds me of Native American celebrations. In fact, when he gets to the stomping portion of his performance, I usually encourage him to place his hand over his mouth in that childlike way, “Wah-wa-wa-wa! Wah-wa-wa-wa! Wahhhhhhhhh!”

When the stomping is done he might bounce some more, spin some more, or throw in some backwards walking to move to a new venue.

Fuller’s dance could be something that one day turns into Swan Lake, but for now it is the dance of carefree innocence, no worries, and love of the life he has been given.

Dance my baby, dance.

Ok, not quite Extreme Makeover- Home Edition, but goodness, what a change and how pretty! Man, I feel pretty, oh so pretty!

Can I give you a tour?

Well, when you first walk in, you see this a-MAZ-ing masthead. See that picture of a house? That is a plate that D painted at a paint-yer-own pottery place here in town. It is an artistic rendition of our house, which is actually blue with one door and two windows in front. The plate resides in our real house and it actually has our address on it. Through the magic of photoshop we removed the address and gave the plate image to our WON-derful designer, Miss Zoot, and said “Design me a blog around this.” (You know, like that Kohler commercial for a faucet fixture.)

Now, if I could direct your attention to the right side of your screen. We have the calendar, which I think is a little retro for the blog look these days. The reason I still like the calendar is that it keeps me accountable for how much we write. If I see too many blank days piling up, I know that I have been slacking off and Austina might get sad. Oh, wait, she doesn’t update that often anyway. Why should she care? (Oh, snap! I just totally called her out on my blog! Hee! I love my sister.)

Second, there is the Daily Fuller Fix (DFF) and we can’t have our family blog without that. Then you would quit hanging out here. (Sidenote, make sure you check out the picture titled, “Peek-A-Boo” and actually click on it.)

Third, we have the recent comments feature, which I love to see because we love comments on this blog. (Who doesn’t?) Comments make great family dinner conversation.

Fourth, we have a new innovation, which I love but you need to tell me if it is wonky or anything. The archives are neatly put away in their own matching rubbermaid storage containers- the dropdown list! On the old blog design I did not like the way that the months and the categories just accumulated in the list fashion that they did. Sure, it was orderly because it was a list and yes the categories were alphabatized, and the months were in their monthly order, but really who needed to see them? It’s like the electrical wiring in my house. It is necessary, but I don’t want to see it. So, I asked Zoot to do for me what she did for her own blog and place them in the dropdown lists. She so awesomely complied.

Fifth, we have the credits, which I need to edit to give credit where credit is due- DESIGN BY MISS ZOOT! (I have to ask her if she has a button or something.)

Now, scroll back up to the top of the screen. See the words, “Home,” “Meet the Family,” “Links,” “Email Us,” and “Photos?” Well, eventually they will take you to new pages with more information on them. Photos will take you to our flickr page and email us will let you send us an email if you are so inclined. And Meet the Family will give you some more information about our family. It has often bugged me that I didn’t have an about page or blurb, cuase that is one of the first things I look for on a new blog, but I was too lazy to get one out there. Now that there is an actual blank page, I have to get cracking.

So, there you have it. Our newly designed blog is out there for you to see. Please let us know if there are any kinks (thanks for your input last night Scott!) and let’s just hang out here for a while, ok?

It is SO PRETTY!

I am having a difficult time with the fact that today is Friday. It seems like we just had the weekend yesterday. And yet, I find it wonderful that tomorrow I just get to hang out with my family, attend a tiny neighborhood meeting, and go to church.

Soon Fuller will wake up from his late nap, wanting a smidge of dinner, and I will embrace him as I embrace the fact that I have the weekend to enjoy- with my arms open wide and my heart full of joy.

Technical note- tonight at 10 est the blog will be getting its much needed makeover. It could last through the weekend, but if you wake up and something is wonky, don’t worry, we are working on it.

I’ve been busy with the whole going to work everyday, 8 hours a day thing and when I get home I like to spend time with my son and help Damon out in small ways (emptying the dishwasher, putting away clothes, etc) and I can’t post from work unless I use the Treo and that isn’t good for indepth, thoughtful posts and that is a really long sentence so I just want to post some links.

First, Curious George rocks. Well, the soundtrackdoes. I haven’t seen the movie and I will someday, in DVD format, but right now Jack Johnson rocks the monkey music. The song, Lullaby makes me cry, but don’t worry, I will be ok.

Secondly, I have a confession. I think I have been cheating on someone. At least, that is what I feel like when I tell you that lately I have been reading a lot of daddybloggers. Sure, I am a mommyblogger, and maybe D is a daddyblogger, but this site is a family blog, so I don’t know. I’m so confused. I think I am cheating on all the mommybloggers that I normally read.

Anyway, daddybloggers I think give me an insight into whatever I think or wish is going on at my house between my husband and son. So here are a few of my recent favorites:
A Family Runs Through It- stay at home dad, two kids, who live in Idaho. I think I like this blog because they live in Idaho and the pictures are gorgeous.
DadBloggers- a collaboration of different dads, sharing insights about the fatherhood. I really liked the entry yesterday on dads roles in welcoming new dads.

Oh man, I am running out of time. Last link, The BlogFathers. Another collaborative effort of a variety of dads.

Ok, time to get the rest of the family up. I know Fuller is awake, he has been singing in his crib for a few minutes.

This past weekend, our church hosted a Sweetheart Pot-Luck Dinner. The husbands/ boyfriends were expected to prepare an entree and either a salad, side dish, or desert. Also, each guy was told to have some demonstration of their “talents” to perform during an after-dinner program.

About a week-and-a-half beforehand, Bob Harbert suggested we co-prepare some entertainment. We brainstormed a bit, and settled on a really cool idea.

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This morning I was a little late to work because I spent more time with Fuller. I let Damon sleep in and I got Fuller up, dressed, and fed.

When I was changing his diaper I gave him my work badge to play with. He looked at the picture and said, “MAMA!”

Everyday he learns something new and or a piece of his world just clicks for his understanding- like yesterday when he learned that he could bang on the side of the metal filing cabinet and it would make a LOUD NOISE.

I miss Fuller everyday, but I know that when I get home he will show me what he learned with great joy.