We All Have Days Like This

I love this picture of R. I took it with my new camera this weekend and it really brings out everything. I think that he would win the Ugliest Baby of the Year with this photo. He wasn't upset or anything, but I caught him not in his best pose. Just to prove that he really is a very handsome boy, I'm including 2 pictures that Cindi took of him a few weeks ago.

And not to leave L out, this another one that Cindi took. Notice the saying on the bib and the cheerio stuck to his face.

What the boys are doing this week: I know I'm leaving memorable milestones out, but they do so much that I can't keep track of it.

L continues to add new words to his vocabulary, like "please" and "baa" (like a sheep).

We have also started time-out with them. When they get into something that they shouldn't, I give them a warning and tell them that the next time they do it, I'll put them in their bed. It really has worked pretty well, especially for L. I don't know what I'll do once they figure out how to climb out of their beds, hopefully by then they'll understand a "naughty spot" (I love Super Nanny).

The boys had their 18 month checkup on Friday. They are both the same length at 31 1/2 inches. L weighs 31 lbs. 3 oz (95%) and R weighs 27 lbs 14 oz (it may be 28, I cant remember) and his in the 75%. I met a woman at Target this week with two little girls and I asked how old they were. One was 15 months old. I told her that my boys were 18 months and much bigger. I laughed and said it is so embarrassing having L at the 95%. She said that it is embarrassing having her little girl at the other end. She is only 14 lbs at 15 months and is the negative percentile. I definitely prefer my boys at the high end. They are healthy and look it, too.

Today is my last day of school, so the packing begins tomorrow! I'll be back for 2 weeks after Christmas, but then we're off. I'm so sad that the time has come so quickly. I will truly miss everything about our home and where we live. But we'll definitely miss Cindi the most of all :(

Waiting to Hear from Daddy

Greg left this morning at 5 am to fly to Denver. He then left Denver at about 11 and has been on the rode all day driving to Kansas City. In case you haven't watched the news, Kansas is in the middle of a giant ice storm right now. I've been giving him weather updates and road conditions all day. I talked to him a little bit ago and he was about an hour away. He decided to drive to Kansas City so he could drive his company van home for Christmas. Our cats are going to be staying in my grandmother's empty house in Lubbock for awhile. Greg didn't like the idea of having to move 3 cats, 2 boys and a truck full of everything we own to Colorado. We'll still have the boys and our stuff, but the cats will be taken care of in Lubbock until we get moved in and can go pick them up. I hope driving through an ice storm was worth it for him.

L says, "Hello, Daddy, are you there yet? I miss you."

R is keeping his mind off of his Daddy's travel by keeping occupied with his ambulance.

I don't remember the last time I was able to get a picture of both boys sitting down on the couch at the same time. They stayed still long enough for this picture by me singing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider."

New things: R and L can both say dog. R says it like he does when he points to everything, but he often pants after he says "da" to show that he means a dog. We watched A Charlie Brown Christmas tonight while they were drinking their milk and R said "da" and panted when he saw Snoopy. L says it a little more like dog. L can also say shoes, but it comes out more like "shz."

I'm on my own this week, so I most likely won't have time to post again. But stay tuned, because I finally ordered a new camera and it should be in by the end of the week!

P.S. Happy 8th Anniversary, Greg!

Baseball Hat Boys

I heard the boys laughing and playing last night so I went into the playroom to see what was so funny. What I found was L trying to put a hat on R's head, and they were having a great time at this. I love how they are playing and interacting with each other.

In this picture, they were not laughing and playing, they were fighting over the baseball bat. I don't remember who won, but I do remember that the loser was left crying.


L loves to wear his baseball hat around the house. But he likes to pull it down almost below his eyes so he can barely see where he is going.

L got an ear infection in both ears last week. He always tells me when he doesn't feel good because he gets in a really cranky/angry mood. He woke up on Friday morning on the wrong side of the bed, so I got him into the doctor that morning and sure enough, he was sick. He had a great time at Walgreens while we were waiting for his prescription. He ran all over the store and I put reindeer antlers on his head, which he thought was funny. Notice his cute shirt. His G-Nanny got this for him, Rudolph's nose lights up.

We went out to eat on Saturday and the boys had their first real coloring experience. R marked on the paper once or twice and then tried to eat the crayon.

L had a good time drawing all over his menu. It kept them occupied for a short bit.

New this week:

R is now saying "car". L says...carrrr? and R says...carrr!!

L can now do the signs for dog, cat (which is so cute), book, fish, and flower. He won't do ball, but he can say the word just fine.

R likes to do the sign for baby. He has also started to take a greater interest in books and he loves to sneak kisses to me.

I close with the boys' picture with Santa Claus from last year. Have a great week!

Pictures with Santa

The boys visited Santa on Monday. This was the same Santa that they saw last year. I love him because he has a real beard and he is so nice and patient. My mom and I took the boys last year, this year Greg and I were joined by our great friends Tim and Stephanie. They had fun playing with the boys and chasing after them in the mall. Afterwards, we all ate at the new Cheesecake Factory.

As we predicted, L was fine with Santa and R cried. L actually became very still and quiet and semi-comatose. R cried, but he didn't get too horribly upset.

L and his new friend, Santa.

Greg and Tim holding the boys while we waited in line.

Tim had fun chasing L all over the mall. L almost got a way from him one time when he tried to go up the escalator.

This is from a couple of weeks ago when Tim and Stephanie came over one night when Greg was gone and made us dinner. The boys love them. We will miss them greatly when we move, but fortunately they already make frequent trips to Colorado, so we'll still see them. Hopefully they'll move up there with us soon, too.

New this week: R can say "baby" and do the sign for it, as well.

Have a great weekend.

P.S. Happy Birthday Greg!!

At Home on a Sunday

It has finally gotten cold here. Cold enough for the boys to wear their Bronco outfits that their Grandma got them. It was a great day to stay inside because it was cold and wet outside and the boys are still not feeling 100%. We got them back on their schedule so hopefully Cindi won't have 2 terrors in her house tomorrow.

L is the goofiest kid there has ever been. He is already the class clown and he knows it. Today he emptied his book basket and proceeded to walk around the house with the basket over his head.

It was neat to see the two of them really play together one on one. R and L had a good time playing peek a boo with the basket on L. They both just laughed at each other. They have already become best buds, and enemies at times, too. I had to clean L's nose out today and I had him on the floor while he was crying (he absolutely hates having his nose suctioned). R came over and started to play with L's face and I told R to give him a kiss, and he did. He had never really given anyone a kiss before (he then spent part of the evening trying to get my attention by giving me a kiss), so I think it is sweet that the first one was to his brother.

Here is R on his cell phone.

And R walking down the hallway. He looks like such a big boy in this picture.

And here is L reading a book, his most favorite thing to do (besides making us laugh).

I still have some past pictures to post, so I'll try to do that this week or this weekend. We're hoping to take the boys to see Santa tomorrow night. I don't think that L will have any problem with Santa. While we were in Lubbock and went straight to my Uncle Charlie and my grandmother's new husband, Mr. G, and wanted them to pick him up. Whenever they tried to put him down, or give him to me, he would start crying. I'll try to take some pictures, whether they cry or not. I'd love to start a tradition of having their picture with Santa every year in a cute frame to put out during Christmas (I had some cute ones last year). Have a great week!

Thanksgiving Weekend with Family

We spent Thanksgiving with my family in Lubbock. The boys had a great time and we all ate ourselves sick for several days (although the boys did not behave too well at the table on Thursday).

R and L had a blast playing with their cousins. L took off after Jacob when he saw him, which kind of took Jake off guard, but they ended up having fun together. Olivia had a great time playing with both of her baby cousins and they loved watching everything that she did around the house.

The boys have had a cold for a few days, but they have been real troopers and haven't fussed too much. They stayed in Nana and Grandad's room, but they didn't allow them to sleep all night at all while we were there. L was sick the first night and woke up. R woke up several times the next 2 nights, but I think it was because he knew Nana would hold and rock him if he cried long enough. Greg and I slept great. I got to sleep in until 9 am, which I don't think has happened in more than 18 months. We're home now, so it's just me and Greg then next 2 nights and then just me, so hopefully the boys will get back on their good sleeping schedules and we can make it until at least 7 am tomorrow.

This is a better picture of what was in R's throat. I had taken the previous one with my cell phone, so the quality was poor. The dime is a reference point to how big the object was (I still can't believe that it was lodged in his vocal cords for 7 weeks and we didn't know it).

New this week:

L has now added 2 more words to his vocabulary, "grandad" and "ho, ho, ho" He also says ball, car, clock, cross, dada, and occasionally mama. L loved playing with grandad this weekend. Whenever he saw his picture he would say grandad and he would call to him several times to get his attention (especially during nap time when dad would try to sneak into the bedroom to get something). Nana got all of the grandkids a very loud and obnoxious Christmas toy that shouts and plays music when you push the button. Anyways, L's is a Santa Clause and says "ho, ho, ho" so he started to imitate it tonight, but it comes out more like "aa, aa, aa" but we know what he means.

R is walking all over the place. He now spends more time walking than crawling. He has the best walk. He pushes his right shoulder up, holds his hands up to his chest, and high steps it out with his left foot. Mom said he walks like Steve Martin in "My Blue Heaven" I'm going to have to get that movie and check it out.

We had our worst restaurant experience today with the boys. We stopped at Cracker Barrel in Abilene on our way home (it is always where we stop because it is good place for messy boys). Neither boy would eat and they started a screaming contest with each other and threw their food all over the place. I think I ate a few bites and then I hurried Greg up so we could get out of there. They left such a mess and were not good at all. They are normally great when we go out (this is only their 3rd time to make it unpleasant for us and those around us). Hopefully it was only because they were needing to blow off some pent up energy from being in the car.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Greg and I have some much to be thankful for, but mostly for such wonderfully fun and healthy boys.

Mystery Solved!!!

So it turns out that the culprit of all of R's problems for the last 7 weeks was a small piece of thin metal lodged into his vocal cords. He already feels like a new man. His hoarseness is almost gone and the stridor no longer exists. He was a little fussy and out of it yesterday because of the anesthesia, but he woke up so happy this morning. The lesson we learned from all of this: go to a Children's hospital when you have an emergency and wait however long it takes to be seen. We took R to Cook Children's ER 7 weeks ago and the waiting room was insane and we were going backwards in line after 2 hours of waiting. So we left and went to our local hospital's ER which is not equipped for such young children. They did a chest x-ray and did not see anything. I'm going to get a hold of those x-rays and see if they missed the foreign object in his throat. But I don't think that Cook's would have missed it, and this all could have been taken care of weeks ago.

But most importantly, we are so thankful that R is OK. We were afraid that his problem was more serious, but fortunately it seems to have been fixed.

R's lesson from all of this: don't be a goat.

At the Hospital

We are now in the waiting area for R's surgery. We'll let everyone know how it goes. He did really well this morning. We had to be here at 5:30, so he was not happy to be roused this morning (and neither were we).

I have taken a few pictures this week of the boys, so when I have a chance I'll post them. Greg and I are off to Denver this weekend so I can take the Colorado Counseling exam. It is bad timing, but I registered before we know R would have surgery. Nana and Grandad are here though to take care of them, so they are in great hands. Hopefully Greg and I will have a chance to look around at some areas while we're there.

New this week:

L can now say "clock" (sorta), he gets the clo part out, but I know what he is saying. He also loves to point out every car that he sees, either on the TV or on the road. He loves to say car, but he says it like a question "Caaar?"

R is doing so much better with his walking. He is still pretty wobbly, but he keeps trying.

Good Times in Mama and Daddy's Room

R is completely fascinated with electronics and anything that has buttons. He has discovered my clock and loves to play with it whenever he is in our bedroom. L is completely fascinated by anything that R has. It is his mission in life to take away anything of value of R's in order to make him upset.


L's favorite item to get a hold of his Greg's contact solution. He likes to carry it around and pretend it is a bottle. It is no big deal, as long as the cap stays on and he can't drink it.

Our bedroom faces the backyard. While R and L were in our room last night, the dogs started barking at something. Both boys went to the window and pulled the blinds back to look and see what they were barking at.

It looks as if L has been caught in the act of knocking over my nightstand, but I know for a fact that R did this. It is an example of how R is going to quietly get L into trouble in the future.

New this Week:

R can say "beep, beep" I always say that to the boys when I'm trying to get past them, and R repeated it back to me today.

R can now identify his food and he found 2 books for me last night. He probably has always been able to do this, but L is such a show off, it hasn't given him the chance to show us (or we have failed to notice).

R went to the ENT doctor for his throat issues today (stridor and chronic hoarseness). He is going to have to have surgery next Thursday to see what is going on. Keep him in your thoughts in prayers that all will turn out well.

As for L, he is the same. He had a great time with his Grandpa and Grandma while they visited and he continues to be a riot. He is so goofy and full of constant energy, he must burn a ton of calories every day.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween 2007.

Halloween 2006.

Tonight, R and L experienced their first real Halloween. Last year doesn't really count since they were only 5 months old. They had a good time in their costumes. R even wore his Darth Vader hat for a short bit. L tried to go into a couple of people's homes and run out into the street a few times (fortunately we live on a very quiet, low traffic street). R even accomplished our goal of walking by Halloween. He did manage to take a step few steps on his own in his costume.

R as Darth Vader. He even has the voice thing down now, since he's been sick.

L as Yoda. He is about the right size of the real one. All he needs now is a light saber.

Daddy, L and R. I attempted to get a good picture of the boys together, but they would not cooperate, especially L.

This was after we got home and both boys were upset that we were trying to get them back inside.

First Halloween candy. R liked the Reese's Pieces, but L spit them out, so he settled on raisins.

1st Carved Pumpkin

We carved our first Halloween pumpkin tonight with R and L. They watched in their high chairs for a few minutes before they got bored. They did find the pumpkin seeds and innards somewhat fascinating. R even tried to eat some raw pumpkin, but we didn't think that was a good idea.



R practiced walking alot last night. Stephanie's parents were in town and they had a good time playing with the boys. Steph's mom inspired R to take 6-7 steps or more at a time. R also started eating with a fork last night. I had given him a spoon, but he wanted to spear all of his food with it, so I gave him a fork instead. Sometimes he will get the food on the fork and bring it to his mouth, sometimes he takes it off of his fork with his other hand and puts it in his mouth.

I forgot to mention that L called 911 at Cindi's last week. He got a hold of her phone and dialed 911. Why the numbers they picked for emergency are on the corner and therefore can be easily dialed by a child is beyond me (it should at least be something like 123 or 987). A police officer showed up a Cindi's and said that 911 got a call and they heard children's voices. L did that once before at home, but that time 911 call me back to ask if there was an emergency.

Tomorrow the boys will dress up in their Halloween costumes one more time and we'll let them stay at the door for trick-or-treaters. They will have a good time looking at other kids in costumes.

He Walks!!!...And Visit to the Pumpkin Patch and Boo at the Zoo

R finally started walking tonight!! He is such a catious boy, besides being part-monkey and loving to climb on everything. He has just needed to get his confidence up and take a step, which he finally did today. He only took a couple of steps, but it is a start.

Nana and Grandad joined us this weekend for Boo at the Zoo in Fort Worth. L dressed up as the cutest Yoda you have ever seen. R was Darth Vader, but he wouldn't wear his hat, so he looked more like a boy in black with a cape. If we're really lucky, I'll get a picture of both of them standing by themselves on Halloween. R had a great time riding on Grandad's shoulders all night and hanging onto his ears. L had a great time walking all over the zoo. I think he had to be the most admired costume there, I think we heard "Look at Yoda" a hundred times.

As promised, I've finally posted the Pumpkin Patch pictures. These are from a little over a week ago. The boys had a great time playing and climbing on the pumpkins.

New things this week:

Besides the great news that R is finally able to walk, he has the croup again. Either that, or he never got over it a month ago. I took him to the doctor on Friday because he is still hoarse. She ordered another round of steriods but said that if he is not better by Tuesday, she'd send us to an ENT.

L has been a complete spitfire lately, especially tonight. When he doesn't take good naps (like today) he acts at night like he's had a shot of my espresso. He was all over the place tonight getting into everything. While I was getting their bath ready, he threw a book and both pairs of shorts into the bathtub. Then while I fishing those out, he started unrolling the toilet paper. After his bath, he peed all over the carpet and Greg.

On a good note for L, he is able to say car and cross. I have a wall of crosses in my hallway and I was pointing them all out to him today, and he repeated it to me several times (although cross sounds alot like car). But he is able to point out pictures in books if you tell him to find certain objects.

I have posted alot more pictures on Shutterfly of Boo at the Zoo and the pumpkin patch. So if you're interested, here's the link: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/pictures?a=67b0de21b3549e55a4dd&sid=0AaNnLVs2bMmLDeA