Happy Birthday Fyodor!!!

Congratulations to Kent and Tara on the birth of their beautiful baby boy. He was born yesterday about three weeks early, but very healthy. We can't wait to meet him!


P.S. Pronunciation-think Theodore, but with an F. He'll be called Fyo.

Fall Fun

I've been meaning to post for at least a week, but we've been so busy. Last weekend (as in a week from this past one) we took the boys to the Pumpkin Festival. It was awful. It was cold, rainy and muddy and all 3 boys were very grumpy. We did pick out 4 pumpkins (one for each of us), but 2 of them have since rotted and I'm not sure if the other 2 will make it. But I did at least get a couple of pictures of the boys in the pumpkin patch. They aren't great, but it may be as good as it gets this year.

Here is R having one of his many breakdowns at the Pumpkin Festival.

L is now also had his crib rail taken down and he too has a "new bed." The boys are going to sleep at night, but nap time has turned into a disaster. All they want to do is play and fight each other. After 3 days of attempting to get them to nap, they are now separated. R sleeps in his bed and L sleeps on my bed during naptime. It is not a perfect solution, but it works. They still need naps. This was clearly demonstrated the 3 days they didn't nap and then crashed on the couch before dinner. One day the crashed on me during Sesame Street and Greg came home to 2 crashed boys sleeping on Mama. If he had been home about 20 minutes earlier, he would have found all three of us sleeping.

New things:

Both boys talk all the time and they are making more and more sense every day. L talks in phrases and sentences and R isn't too far behind. L favorite thing to say is, "I'm so funny." He does not suffer from a lack of self-esteem.

A couple of weeks ago I went looking for L's car in the backyard before naptime. The boys often put things inside the seat of their bus, so I opened the lid to see if the car was in there. What I found was a giant dead bird. One of the boys, most likely L, had found it in the backyard and put it in their bus for safe keeping. It was not a pleasant surprise. Greg was out of town, so I had to deal with the dead animal, just like the time a few months ago when a squirrel fell out of a tree in the front yard.

My sisters-in-law are both due with their first babies in November and I had the chance and honor to make both of the Baby Shower cakes. My brother's wife is in LA and Greg's brother's wife is here. On Sunday, we had a Baby Shower for Jenny at my house. It was alot of fun and I got to practice decorating another cake. The picture is below. Sorry Jenny that I didn't get a picture of you, I didn't think about getting my camera during the shower. R and L are going to love their new baby cousins - R in particular loves babies.

Not a whole lot else is going on with us. We've just been busy with the every-day routine. Halloween stuff starts next week (like the boys costume parade at their school), so more pictures are sure to follow.

R and L "helping" Daddy put L's new bed together.

My little artists.

I leave you with 2 pictures of the boys' last year in a pumpkin patch. Notice how they could still wear shorts and they were happy in the sun - big difference from this year.

He's Free!

R has broken out of jail and is now free from his crib. He had climbed out of his bed several months ago, but that was because he was able to use his dresser to help him out. We've known that this was coming for a long time with both boys, but they haven't realized how close they have been to climbing out. Greg put the toddler rail on the next night and amazingly, R went to sleep with no problems. Nap time has become fun for him now, because he plays on his horse and turns the light on and off until he finally goes to sleep. Poor L is left watching his brother in the confines of his own bed. We are going to take L's crib rail off tomorrow. Hopefully this will end some of the sleeping issues we've had lately. When R wakes up now in the morning, he just comes into our bedroom instead of crying. We hope that L will do the same when he wakes up at 3 am (which happens almost every night).

Above is my big boy R, sleeping in his big boy bed. Below is my baby L, sleeping in his crib with his paci.

New things:

Both boys can now jump. L has been able to do so for quite a while, but R just recently started actually getting some air under his feet.

R and L love to hide behind furniture and peek around and say, "I see you Mama." L also likes to find things and say, "I see it!"

We have hit the terrible twos with both boys. Their most common word is "no." They say no to almost every question or request that is made to them (even when they mean yes). L at least will say, "no ma'am." half the time, but it is still no. I don't really know how to stop this. I think this is a common phase of toddler-hood, but it is very frustrating. They have also started throwing fits at inappropriate places. I took the boys out to dinner last night because Greg was out of town and R absolutely fell to pieces when we walked into Qdoba (which is a place they like). He laid down on the floor and threw a fit. He never would touch his dinner and never did calm down. I told him he was lucky we were in public. Today was L's turn at the Children's Museum. He didn't want to get out of the firetruck and totally lost it when I made him get out, he proceeded to lay on the floor and throw a fit. I would like to think that I have pretty well behaved kids, at least people tell me that almost every time I take them out with me, but this new stage sucks and I'm somewhat at a lost of what to do about it. I know that it will pass, but hopefully with no permanent damage done to any of us. They at least have the courtesy to take turns of which one of the them is going to throw a fit and it has not been both of them at the same time.

Here is L beginning his fit at the Children's Museum. This is before he laid down on the floor and screamed. Below is R taking his turn at the being "the good son."

Below is a video of the boys playing in "bro's new bed."

Above is a picture of L in is Robin costume, this time he is wearing the mask.

I am leaving you with a picture of a pumpkin bundt cake that I made last weekend. Kent and Tara gave me a cookbook for my birthday that is specifically about baking in high altitudes. It is wonderful and it really works. This cake turned out beautifully and it probably rose at least an inch and a half above the top of the pan. I've had so much fun trying out new recipes and being able to make things from scratch.