Daddy's Proudest Moment

So this happened a few weeks ago, but I cant believe I forgot to write about it. It's one of the memories of Tyler's childhood I hope to always remember with a smile. And I can't believe I don't have a picture!

We were all upstairs cleaning up and hanging out. Tyler goes downstairs and we hear the t.v. turn on. We figure out its a football game so we decide its ok for him to keep it on, thinking that he is playing and its on as background noise. A few minutes later Justin looks downstairs. Tyler is sitting on the couch, with his hand on his diaper, and an empty glass in his hand. Every few seconds or so he would take a "sip" from the glass.

Tyler looks up at Justin and says "watching football". We all go downstairs to watch the game with Tyler. He sits and watches for a good ten minutes - which is the longest he has ever sat I think. At one point he said he needed more water in his glass. He gets up off the couch walks upstairs and comes back downstairs with his glass still empty of course. He climbs back on the couch, takes another sip and says "mmm good water" and continues to watch the game.

Daddy couldn't be prouder.

One last Christmas Present

It was a week late, but the boys finally got their big Christmas present. Luckily they are still at an age where they don't seem to notice these things. On Saturday before all the family came Justin started putting the boys play kitchen together. When the nephews got here they finished it up for us. Tyler was so excited! At one point Justin had it turned upside down to screw in the bottom. Tyler grabbed a play spoon and started mixing away at the bottom of the kitchen proudly stating "stirrin eggs".

As soon as he wakes up in the morning he immediately goes and starts cooking. Yesterday morning he ate "ies an izza" (fries and pizza) for his breakfast. That is before I made him eat his real breakfast. I love to see his imagination come out. We were at some friends house and he deiced to start handing out cake to everyone to eat - so he pretty much handed us little bits of air, but it was so cute. Steve, a good friend of ours, asked for some pizza. Tyler walks into their kitchen makes some pizza and brings it back out for Steve. So much fun to watch and I love hearing what his little mind is thinking.

Back to Normal

Whew! It has been a crazy week and a half. With the trip to Montrose, my brother coming over, having friends over and this past weekend, the boys haven't had a day with just mommy and daddy. On Saturday afternoon Justin's parents, his brother and sister-in-law, and their three kids (all boys of course) were here. We let the boys play some, had some pizza, and then went to the zoo. Every year our zoo has the "Electric Safari" - they have Christmas lights all over the zoo and you get to see the animals at night. A lot of the animals are sleeping and it was very cold, but we still had fun. The best part of feeding the giraffes. They were inside the giraffe house and they got so close to everyone. At one point one giraffe bent down over my nephew to the point where you couldn't even see his face- I am not sure what he thought about it. Tyler and Carter always love feeding the giraffes and this time was no exception.

We went back to their hotel and I mistakenly let Tyler see the swimming pool. He had a major tantrum and screamed the whole way home because he couldn't go swimming. When we put him in the car in the morning to go back over to the hotel, he immediately asked to go in the water. This time he was allowed and had a great time. Both of the boys love the water, and Tyler even got a little daring towards the end jumping into the "cool". We all went out for lunch and then said our goodbyes. It was great to see them all again, but it was nice last night to have a "normal" night (even tho we went to see some friends, that is more normal for our kiddos).

Happy Birthday Baby!

To my wonderful husband....

On your birthday I wanted to say thanks for all you do for us. Thank you for being such a great daddy to our boys. I know they will be great husbands and fathers because they are seeing your example of how to be one. Thank you for working your butt off at two jobs so I can be home with the boys. I know I don't' express it enough, but I appreciate the sacrifices you make for our family on a daily basis. Thank you for honoring me as your wife. You are my rock. Happy birthday baby - I love you!

Another Christmas

Last night we had my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew (B.J., Abbi, and Toby) over for dinner and to open gifts from my side of the family. The boys played very well for the most part, although there were some sharing battles. But really what can you expect from 2 two year olds? Once we reminded them they had to share, they did great. The biggest tantrum of the night came from Tyler. He opened up a present from Oma and Opa- a grocery cart. I mistakenly opened the box, thinking that it was already assembled. Nope it was in 4 pieces and needs to be screwed together. Tyler couldn't get over that he couldn't play with it right then and there. We put him in his room to have his tantrum and quickly assembled it. We probably should have just made him wait, but it was "Christmas" after all. When he came back down and saw it was put together life was good again.

Carter and Tyler were more into opening the gifts this time than on Tuesday. Carter is very meticulous when opening. He rips off tiny pieces one at a time. Tyler just rips and rips until he can see a tiny piece of the present and then goes to grab another present. Now I just have to find places for all their new stuff.

White Christmas

On Monday the rest of the family arrived. Which meant we had 8 adults and 8 children in the house. It was very busy and at times noisy, but also very fun. Monday consisted of doing last minute errands, and going to Christmas Eve service. I am not sure what got into a Tyler. When I went to get him from the nursery his bottom lip was quivering and as soon as I picked him up he burst into tears. The ladies running the nursery told me he had done great, he would fuss a little bit here and there but he played really well and was even helping pick up the toys when I got there. I am assuming it was because of his foot. That morning we was kinda limping everywhere. He had a small red spot on his big toe and would grimace if you touched it. The next morning he was fine.

Christmas morning we woke up to a beautiful White Christmas. It snowed the majority of the morning and was absolutely gorgeous. Before we went out to see the rest of the family we read the story of Jesus' birth together as a family. This is a tradition we started with Tyler's first Christmas and wanted to continue even tho we weren't at home.

When we got to the living room we showed the boys their stockings. They were more interested in what their cousins got from Santa tho (a train table and a Smart Cycle). Once everyone was in the room the boys got to open up their stockings and their presents. Tyler was a little bit more interested in opening this year than he was last year, but I think they were both a little overwhelmed.

The rest of the morning they played with their toys and played outside some in the snow. When they woke up from their naps however, trouble started. Tyler was very cranky and was getting frustrated very easily. If I told him no to something he would just cry and cry. The only thing that helped was cuddling with Grandma. I really think it was that he was around so many new people and so much stuff was constantly going on. He gets overwhelmed so easily. You can tell when he is nervous/anxious/etc. because his hands will be in his mouth and he will be looking for anything to chew on. Pretty mush the rest of the trip Tyler has something in his mouth.

The boys loved being around the family, even if at times it was a little to much for Tyler. He loved giving each one hugs every night before bed and saying thanks for them in his prayers. Carter loved being tickled and having even more boys to follow around. It was so great to see them playing all together and making memories.

Wednesday we got up, ate breakfast, played some, Tyler got frustrated more, ate lunch and hit the road for home. The boys once again did very well in the car. Carter got a little cranky toward the end, but for the most part it was an uneventful ride home. We were all very happy to be home. However I know the boys loved spending time with Grandpa and Grandma and all their cousins. We will get to see some of them some more this weekend, so I think these two days off are a perfect break for Tyler.

Off we go...

Well we made it. The boys and I left Friday afternoon at 2:00 to pick up Justin and be on the road to Montrose. Because of snow, accidents, and a really slow semi that didn't know to turn off on a mountain road when there are a line of cars behind you, we arrived in Montrose at 12:00 am Saturday. What is usually a 4 1/2 hour drive took us 10 hours. The boys did amazing well!

When we got out of the car the boys were everywhere - running all over Grandma and Grandpa's house. They were so excited to see the Christmas tree and all the other decorations. Tyler's favorite was the choo-choo train of course. I was a little worried about them going back to sleep, but they went down just as easily as usually and even slept in a little on Saturday.

On Saturday Tyler and Carter had a lot of fun just playing. Tyler found a new love - Mack the semi truck from the movie cars. He played for 3 hours straight, just putting cars into Mack and taking them out. Carter found a new favorite spot. A little table for the kids to eat on - Carter thought is would be the perfect place to sit or stand.

Sunday morning we drove to Gunnison to see our nephew in the Christmas program at their church. He did a great job and it was very fun to watch. The boys, as usual, did great in the nursery. We then went over to Justin's brothers house were all the boys played together. Tyler immediately found a toy Mater and was in heaven. He started having an occasional tantrum here or there, but for the most part all the boys played great together and we were having a great time.

Merry Christmas!

We will be packing up and heading for Montrose tomorrow night to be with Justin's family. I am sure I will have many stories to share as the boys will be playing with many of their cousins. I am not sure if I will have a chance to jump on and update or not, so if not I wanted to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas. I hope you all enjoy the time you get together remembering what this season is really about. God Bless!

Brotherly Love

Its official, my boys have their first best friends - each other. This morning I went into their bedroom and they were giggling back and forth at each other. Carter ran to the other side of his crib, and Tyler did the same. Tyler started jumping so Carter tried to start jumping. Tyler started spinning so Carter had to join in. They did this together each in their own cribs across the room from each other. It was so fun to watch.

Tyler is always making sure Carter has whatever he has. He is always saying "Carter too?" Yesterday Carter was having a tantrum and didn't want his water. Tyler comes up to me and says "milk" and goes to the fridge. I am assuming he wants his milk to drink, but because it was so close to dinner I reminded him that he can have his water until dinner. Well he decided to open the fridge and grab his milk cup only to hand it to his brother. After that wonderful display of love I couldn't take it away from Carter.

The boys adore each other. Carter has recently moved up to the toddler room in the nursery - the same room as Tyler. They don't play with each other the whole time, but they will run up to each other and give hugs throughout the day. At lunch Tyler will yell across the eating area "hi Carter" like he forgot he was there and so excited to see his brother.

They have their first best friends and I hope they will never have a different one.

*this picture is a little old, but the camera is already packed so it works.

Big Boy

Recently I have been receiving many comments on how Carter no longer looks like a baby, but more like a boy. Yes he still has a baby look to him, but its going away. I have talked before about how Carter is acting more like a toddler, but to me he is still my baby.

When Tyler was this age, he initiated doing many "chores" around the house. He would help us feed the dog, help me clean the kitchen, help with the laundry, throw trash away, etc. Because Tyler is here and does all these things, Carter really hasn't. However I am not sure if its because Tyler does these things for him, or if its because I don't think Carter is capable of doing them yet. I don't see Carter as a 14 month old. To me he is still maybe 9 months or so, learning to cruise around the furniture.

Justin and I have decided to see how "capable" Carter really is. He threw trash away for us the other day and he was so proud of himself, much like Tyler was the first time. Both of them helped me with the laundry today, and Carter now sits at the table with us with his own plate, instead of his tray. What a big boy.

We're Cooking

What a fun Sunday! Justin and I had talked for awhile about making some goodies for the firefighters, but when I read this blog I knew we had to do it. Tyler helped me bake Christmas cookies and then we also made some fudge. Tyler loved rolling out the dough, patting the flour, and pushing on the cookie cutters. I just know he will love his Christmas present this year (a play kitchen). When the cookies were done cooling both boys helped decorate them. I think Carter ate more of the sprinkles than anything and Tyler really only wanted to eat the cookies not decorate them, but they still had fun.

After a quick lunch we were off to the firehouse. We dropped off the goodies and they offered to take us around the station. When we first saw the truck Tyler was a little nervous, but warmed up fairly quickly. He eventually even sat in the big red truck! Carter just happily ran around the station.The firefighter giving us the tour was very nice and told us to come back anytime with the camera. She also told us what stations had the ladder trucks since most kids love those trucks the best. They gave the boys stickers and we were on our way. When Tyler woke up from his nap he wanted to go back to the fire truck!

Updates and other ramblings...

Just some updates on Tyler. He had speech on Tuesday morning. His therapist thinks that he can now go to once a month for "maintenance" work, instead of therapy every two weeks. She is pretty confident that he is now at age level. While I see everyday how much better Tyler is doing, it still somewhat worries me. If he is talking about something out of context, its hard for me to understand what he is saying. This is happening more and more lately as he will tell me things that happened earlier in the day. It usually takes me a good time to finally figure it out. Other times I never truly understand what he is saying.

The therapist also asked me if I wanted Tyler to see a child psychologist. This totally put me back. Tyler is already showing signs of being a perfectionist. He is very much a Type A personality. I have no idea where he gets this from. Anyway, say he is building Legos and they topple over. Tyler gets beside himself. The first few times he will be ok about it. He will scream NO, fuss a little and then build it up again. However if it keeps falling over he will get beside himself. Have a total meltdown, where there really isn't much I an do to help him. I try to intervene before this happens and ask him if I can help. But this doesn't always work. Because of these meltdowns, the therapist wants a psychologist to work with Tyler on how to deal with these things. I thought this was normal two year old behavior? She says this behavior should be getting better and with Tyler it seems to be about the same, if not getting worse.

I have decided that I am not going to worry about it. If I get a call for him to see a child psychologist one day then we will go to the appointment. However I will not go and seek one out myself. I guess we will see how worried the therapist is about Tyler. If she really think its that big of a deal she will call our service coordinator to set it up for us. Gotta love the wait and see game.

Tyler also bit in the nursery yesterday! I couldn't believe it since he had been doing so well. The director, as usual, was very nice about it. I isolated Tyler for a little bit, made sure I sat at his table for lunch so it wouldn't happen again, and then he was allowed to play again. I am not quite sure why he bit the kid either. It was during circle time that I was leading. The kids were suppose to be singing songs with me. This doesn't interest Tyler so he was climbing on a foam structure we have with another child. I am not sure if there was pushing involved or what, but he bit him on the back. Luckily the kid's mom was very nice about it. Her response was "good, now he knows what it feels like when he bites his brother". Man I love it when other moms understand! I just hope this doesn't become a daily thing again.

Justin decided to put all the ornaments up. So the bottom two feet of our tree has zero ornaments. However this has still not worked. Carter now just reaches up and takes off the ornaments he can reach. Do we make it so half the tree has ornaments and the other half doesn't?

Here fishy fishy

Yesterday after naps the boys and I got into the car and drove up to Denver to pick up Justin. Justin was having a staff Christmas party so a few coworkers came out to say hi to the boys. Of course Tyler got all shy and would hardly look at them. As soon as the car door was shut he once again started talking up a storm. We went out to dinner with some friends, and for the most part the boys behaved pretty well. After dinner we headed off for the aquarium!

The boys loved the aquarium. Carter was giggling with delight as we went thru it. Tyler was very nervous at first, as he usually is in new places. He didn't even want to get out of his stroller at first. Eventually he also warmed up tho and loved looking at each tank. At the very end, we got to touch and feed some sting rays. Tyler put his hand in the water, but wouldn't touch them. I was feeding one of them and the sting ray pretty much jumped out of the water. Tyler screamed immediately. It was quite humorous. Everyone around us burst into laughter I think its because they all wanted to scream too. The boys had a great time and behaved so well! I was quite impressed as we didn't get to the aquarium til 7 and left at 9 - way past bedtime. I can't decide which pictures I like best, so my apologies in advance.

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Oh Christmas tree

We decorated the Christmas tree on Sunday. Tyler really did not want to hang any ornaments on the tree, but he did bring the ornaments to us. He was so excited when we turned off the lights and turned on the Christmas tree lights. Every time he sees it now (which is a few dozen times a day as its in the front living room) he has to say "issmas tee". I tried to get a picture of both of them in front of the tree, but like usual it didn't work out.I would think by now the boys would be used to the tree. But no. Carter will not stay away from it. He has already broken two ornaments and I have taken at least 15 other ornaments from his hands. Justin says we should just move all the ornaments up, but I am thinking that it will wear off soon - the wanting to touch the tree that is. We didn't have this problem with Tyler so I am at a loss of what to do. Any ideas?

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow

It finally snowed enough for the boys to play in the snow. We got them all bundled up in their snow gear and took them out. I was hoping we would be able to make a snowman, as Tyler loves snowmen, but the snow was too dry. I guess we will have to wait for a spring snow for that.

Carter was unsure of the snow. Part of the time he liked it and other times he was crying his head off. Tyler on the other hand loves playing in it. He ran around and fell down in the snow, threw the snow in the air, and I helped him make a snow angel. He also rode his bike and his car in the snow and Carter went down his slide.

I love seeing this time of year thru Tyler's eyes. He is in awe of everything. A couple of weeks ago we drove around looking at Christmas lights. Now every time we are in the car Tyler wants to see more lights. We also went and picked out a Christmas tree today. Tyler didn't even want to get in the car, because he wanted to stay with our tree. Justin is bringing the tree in right now so that the boys can help us decorate it when they wake up from their naps.

On a potty training note. Tyler was getting stressed by it and not even wanting to sit on his potty seat. So he is back in diapers. I will continue to bring him to the potty and have the nursery as well, but I think I will hold off on really training him for a few more months.

Potty Training

I have been debating for about a month now if I should start potty training Tyler or not. I am not working much this month, so it would be a good time to do it as I can stay home and work on it with him. Well we went to Walmart today and got him some big boy pants. He is so proud of them! I put them on him and took him to the potty every 15 minutes or so. So far he has yet to go in the potty, but he hasn't had an accident either. Before his nap I put his diaper back on and he wasn't happy about that. I assured him that we would put his underwear back on as soon as he woke up. I will keep you posted.

Love you too

I think Justin and my hearts just melted. First a little background. Tyler has a speech delay, we all know this. Becuase of this he didn't say mommy until close to 20 months old. He actually had about 20 words before he said mommy, including Carter. When he first said mommy I immediately teared up. It was the most precious thing I have ever heard...until tonight (and just as a fyi - Carters first word was mama, so at least I had one that said it before doggy). Tyler is also a little parrot so if I ask him to tell me he loves me, he always does, but I always have to prompt him first.

Tonight I had to work so it was Justin's job to put the boys to bed. When I got home I hear Tyler saying "mommy home". I go up to his room to find him wide awake with his pants off (his new favorite thing to do). I put his pants back on, give him hugs and tell him good night. About 5 minutes later he is crying and I tell Justin to go get him, as usually that is who he wants when he wakes up crying.

Next thing I know Tyler is walking down the stairs and Justin says he wanted me. Well after singing a few songs and Hana licking his feet making him giggle with delight I finally understand that he wants me to sing the prayer song. So we sing the song and say our prayers and he is on his way upstairs off to bed. I guess Justin forgot to say them tonight and Tyler can be very particular about his routines. Justin lays him down and rubs his back and says "love you Tyler". Tyler responds "love you too". Melt Melt Melt. Hopefully I will hear this soon too.

*Justin came and told me all this with tears in his eyes, making it even that more precious. My boys sure do have a wonderful father.

ABC's, 123's, trees, and please

So because of Tyler's speech delay he is also behind in things like counting, singing ABC's, etc. Well lately he is, in Justin's words "doing so well".

He will now try to sing the ABC's with me! I will start singing and stop and he will add in the letter. He usually gets S, Z, P and C. Also we have the Leap Frog Letters . I highly recommend them. He will grab a letter and tell me what it is. He knows T and O with 100% accuracy. About 50-75% of the time he gets C, D, S, Z, and G. Yesterday he also came up to me holding the B and said "B ba". Oh the teacher in me gets so excited to see this!!

Its the same with counting. Counting used to be "two, two, two". Now he can count to 3, sometimes 4 with no help. As I count on he can add in 6, 8 and 10. I guess him learning how to be patient is paying off (when we tell him he has to be patient we make him clasp his hands and count).

Tyler is also not the best veggie eater. At best he will eat green beans once in a while and corn sometimes. This kid doesn't even like sweet potato fries! Anyway the last few time I have made them he has gobbled up his "trees" or broccoli. Maybe we are turning a corner?

Justin and I are trying to make our boys grow up learning that there are other people in the world besides them. They need to be respectful and loving of others at all times. This goes along with teaching them manners. We have been working on please and thank you with Tyler for who knows how long. Please was actually one of the very first signs he learned. Well, he is now saying it without prompting. During lunch he heard a trash truck go by. He looks at me and says" see tash tuck peas". He wanted to go see the trash truck. Usually when he is eating I don't let him get down until he is done. But because he asked so nicely I let him go see it. He came back after waving bye to the truck and finished up his trees. A mother couldn't be prouder!

Here comes Santa Claus

We brought the boys to see Santa today. I really had no idea to what to expect. While neither of them freaked out, they weren't happy either. Tyler sat on Santa's lap afraid to even move. I don't think he was scared, more anxious of why he was sitting on this big couch thing with this big guy with white stuff on his face who had him arm around him. Carter kept looking at Santa like he wanted to pull on his bread at any moment. Justin and I were hoping that he really would as it would make a great picture, but alas he did not. I don't have the picture the mall took on my computer, but this is the one I took with my own camera. Unfortunately you really can't see their expressions.

Fat Lip

Well it finally happened. After MANY bumps, dents and scratches Tyler has his first fat lip. We went to a high school girls basketball game tonight to watch one of our Young Life students. The boys liked watching the game for about 2 minutes and then decided that climbing the bleachers would be more fun. I was holding Carter, but Justin filled me in on the details. I guess he was climbing up one and slipped and bumped his chin on one of the bleachers. A nice lady picked him up as Justin went over to him. I guess Tyler just did the lip quiver thing until he saw Justin. Then he started full on crying. Justin figured he was ok and brought him to me telling him to stop crying. (Lately Tyler has been crying when he is really fine. We give him cuddles for a few minutes, but don't want this to be a habit so we explain to him that he is fine.) I go to grab Tyler from Justin when Justin notices the blood. He takes Tyler to the bathroom to clean him off. When he comes back Tyler is ready to show me his battle scar. You can see the bite marks on his lip. By the time we got home from the game it was starting to swell. And the battle scars of boyhood begins.

One Year Old

So Carter has been officially one for well over a month now. When Tyler was this age Carter had just come home from the hospital. Maybe that's why I don't remember these moments with him. The following events all took place in the span of less than one hour:

We sat down to eat dinner. (Just an fyi, Carter loves to eat. It is pretty amusing to watch as he shovels food into his mouth as quickly as possible as if he hasn't eaten in days. He always out eats Tyler and everyday when I pick him up from the nursery I am told that once again he ate everything I brought so they had to give him more of the Church's snacks. I try to bring him more than enough, but it never is enough. Today he had a sandwich, a cup of rice, a thing of string cheese, a yogurt, and a bowl of pineapple, along with his water. The church also gave him goldfish, graham crackers, animal crackers, and cheerios. He then proceeded to have a fit when one of the workers was eating an orange and wouldn't share with him). So we sit down to eat some Salmon and Mac and Cheese. This is what Carter looks like after eating:

So we clean Carter up. He hates to have his face washed, so the family endures a few minutes of screaming as Justin hoses him off. Dinner is over and we are about to have a Young Life meeting at our house, so we are quickly cleaning up the kitchen. We look over to Carter and he is standing in the dogs water. Barefoot and all. We just leave him there for the time being, wondering how long it will take him to not like the cold water. Five minutes later Justin picks him out of the dog bowl. The water has now absorbed up to 4 inches of his jeans (or up to his knees). We take his pants off and let him run around the house with just his shirt on.

As we are cleaning the kitchen he follows Tyler downstairs and gets out the bin of balls I just put away. He then proceeds to throw every ball around the room as Tyler proceeds to dump out all his Mr Potato Head pieces. I quickly clean up the balls and start running the vacuum. Then I grab Carter and I am putting him in his p.j.'s as the other Young Life leaders walk thru the door to get our meeting started. We have our meeting as the boys play around us and Carter covers his face in chocolate from a quarter piece of a cookie that we gave him. Justin washes him off once again and puts him to bed. Yep, Carter is officially a one year old toddler.

First Word

I can't believe I forgot to post this yesterday. Carter officially has his first word. He says been babbling forever now and said "mama" quite a lot. However I was never sure if it was directed at me or not. Yesterday when we got to the park there were dogs everywhere. Carter pointed at one and said "ga". I told Justin that I think he is trying to say dog. As Justin was carrying Carter up to the playground, he pointed at dogs and said "ga" at least 3 more times. Today at lunch a dog started barking and Carter once again said "ga". Before I know it he will be talking in sentences.

Last chance for fun in the sun

It has been unseasonably warm here lately so we took the chance to go to the park for most likely the last time of the year. The boys always have a blast at the park. Carter loves the swings and Tyler loves to climb and slide. He gets more daring every time we go. He is even more so when Daddy is there as well. When I just go with the boys, I have to hold/watch Carter so I can't let Tyler climb on everything that he wants, such as the rock climbing wall. But this time Daddy came too so Tyler climbed to his hearts delight. Carter is a little more timid than Tyler was at this age. We did let him go down the big slide by himself, but he didn't seem to like it all that much. Carter's favorite part was trying to keep up with Tyler. He loves his big brother so much.


I also tried unsuccessfully to get a good Christmas picture of the two of them in their sweaters. However, like most times I try to take a picture of both of them, one of them is not looking at the camera, or they are crying,....or trying to kill each other. Any suggestions?

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Well its the day after Thanksgiving and I am ready for Christmas. We will be decorating everything but the tree (still need to get that) this weekend and the Christmas music is on! I thought this would help everyone else get into the spirit as well. Enjoy!

Oh did you notice I figured out how to do the links!

Girls Night

Usually this blog is about the boys. However this time its also about me. Last weekend I got the chance to go out for a fun girls night! 5 of us from college went up to Denver to a great jazz club called "The Dazzle" We listened to a live show, had some dinner and drinks, and a lot of laughter. It had been a while since I just went out with the girls, let alone for drinks. It is something that I need to do more of for sure. I was so excited I even wore pointy shoes and make-up! It was so nice to reconnect with my friends. Every woman needs to have girlfriends in thier lives - I am blessed to have such wonderful ones. Here is a picture of three of us. I love my girls!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! We had a wonderful day spending time together as a family. We watched the Macy's parade, which Tyler absolutly loved. Then we all went to my brother's house for a wonderful thanksgiving meal. There were some older kids there so as the adults ate they watched the littler kids (Tyler, Carter, and cousin Toby). The boys did great for thier "babysitters". The girls absolutly loved Carter as well. Everytime I went to check on them one of the girls was holding him. When I asked if he was ok they always said "yes, he is great!" I even heard one girl tell her mom that she wants a baby like Carter. I love it when other people think my kids are as great as I think they are!

Anyway I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday with the ones you love. In my family we grew up remembering to give thanks to those who serve and fight for this great country of ours. I thought this is a great reminder of that http://www.sgtstrader.org/msg/2006tdm1.html . I am not sure how to add links to this so if someone wants to tell me I would appreciate it!

Snow!

So we woke up today to about 3 inches of snow on our patio table. When I brought Tyler downstairs he immediately saw it and ran to our sliding door. "Snow!" "Snow on car!" "Snow on Turtle!" "Outside, Outside!" Can you tell he was excited to see the snow? As we were walking out to the car we shuffled his feet so that the snow covered his shoes. The look on his face was priceless. Unfortunately it doesn't look like the boys will get a chance to play in it. Most of it has already melted (yes its still only 28 degrees and all the snow is gone - this is why I love Colorado). Here are some pictures from a little over a year ago when Tyler got to play in the snow for the fist time.

Growing Up

Everyday I see less of my baby in Tyler and more of my little boy. He is growing up so fast right before my eyes. The other night we were at the mall and had some pizza for dinner. Instead of a high chair, Tyler sat in a regular seat - without a booster or anything. He is growing up.

He now regularly speaks in 3 to 4 word sentences. Yesterday he said very clearly "I want water too". He is growing up.

Like in my last post, he is doing so much better at Church. Today in fact he was telling other kids not to hit and when another child took his beloved truck he went and asked for help!!! He is growing up.

Last night I really saw it. He wanted to help Justin put his racetrack back together. With just a little help of Justin getting the screwdriver in the right place, he screwed the screw in all by himself. He is growing up.

Yes there is still baby in him. He still gets whiny, still wants to be carried on occasion, still needs his plug (pacifier) to fall asleep, and is still in diapers without a hint of wanting to be potty trained. But everyday I am seeing less of that little baby of mine. My first baby is growing up. My heart is so proud of the little boy he is becoming but breaking at the same time.

Church Update

Just wanted to update on the biting situation at the Church nursery. Tyler so far has been doing awesome!!! I am so proud of him! I did stop a couple instances when he almost tried to bite a kid, but he is doing a lot better. When kids take a toy from him he says "no" or yells instead of biting right away. The two instances when I had to intervene was because they were playing tug of war on a toy for a good 5 seconds and no one came to help him. Also when another child pushes him Tyler is not pushing back! I don't have the words to say how relieved I am. Of course usually after I sing Tyler's praises the next day is usually a bad one, so we shall see how tomorrow goes.

Carter is starting to get in the hitting phase, He really isn't hitting, more going up to someone and just kind of slapping their arm (I think he is experimenting more than anything). Anyway when he does it to Tyler, Tyler will just calmly say "no hit". He still hits his brother as well, but at least he knows he nor Carter are supposed to be hitting!

Young Life

Justin and I are volunteer leaders for Young Life for a nearby high school. I went to Young Life when I was in high school and absolutely loved it. My favorite memories from high school usually revolved around Young Life.

So last night was the first time the boys went to a club. There were probably 50 high schoolers there and 10 other leaders. The boys did do pretty well, but I feel like instead of being with the students I was concentrating on my kids. I guess we will just have to see how it goes.

This morning we had a play group with Gavin and Colin. Gavin is about 3 weeks older than Tyler and Colin is about 3 weeks younger than Carter. The boys played well for the most part, just a little pushing here and there. We have bins that we keep all the toys in. Tyler and Gavin (mostly Tyler) decided to dump out all the bins (I don't usually let him do this, but then I remember he is 2 and its fun for him). So I say good job Tyler you got all the bins. He looks at me and smiles and finds one more bin and dumps it - gotta love his personality!

Relaxing Sunday

So once again we had a very nice relaxing weekend. On Saturday Justin was at a volleyball tournament all day, so the boys and I played at home, ran some errands and went to bed early. On Sunday tho we got to enjoy the whole day together.

We bought Tyler a little bike that we could use indoors so that he will have something to ride on when Carter rides on his ride on toy (hey we try to keep the fights to a minimum). So the boys helped Justin to put that together in the morning. They then took a nice early nap and afterwards we went to a friends first birthday party. After the party we just drove around looking at the new neighborhoods they are building. While we don't plan on moving for at least a couple years, we have always enjoyed just driving around and see what is out there.

We then came home, had dinner, and just hung out at home as a family - boy do I love weekends like this.

Eskimo Kisses

The boys love to get Eskimo Kisses. I usually give them when I am changing their diapers. Carter will lay there and start giggling as I lean toward his face. After Tyler sees that Carter gets one he also wants a "sesko iss". Tyler however starts laughing uncontrollably as soon as I look like I will give him one. He pushes my face away and turns his face. If I stop trying to give him one he will ask for more. So I have to basically hold him down to give him one as he laughs and laughs and laughs. Tonight when Justin came home he asked Justin for one. It was the cutest!

Tonight at dinner was a first for Tyler. Usually as we when we eat the boys babble back and forth. We talk to the boys but also at times get wrapped up in our own conversations. This was the case tonight, until I hear a "MOM"! Yep not mama, not mommy, but a full fledged Mom and yelling too. When I looked at Tyler he simply said "ore sesup" -more ketchup. Can this stage already be here??? Justin looks at me and says "how about we not respond to that positively". Hopefully that will do the trick for now.

Napoleon?

So Justin and I are pretty sure Carter has small man syndrome. He loves to play outside whenever given the chance. However he thinks playing outside is standing on the little slide we have and pointing at things and shouting. We think its because its one of the few times he feels like he is bigger than everyone else.

Carter also loves to help with the dishes. It really cracks Justin and I up. He toddles into the kitchen minding his own business when we are either unloading or loading the dishwasher. He then grabs a spoon, spatula, or whatever else looks fun and RUNS out of the kitchen hoping no one notices. What a big helper!

Much better day!

Well so far today has gone much better! I feel 100 times better than yesterday and the boys are enjoying their mommy back. We all woke up (still at 6:30, I hope they adjust to this change in time soon) and went downstairs to have breakfast. Much better than yesterday, today was waffles, bananas and eggs. After breakfast we went downstairs and played. We played with Mr. Potato head, our trucks or course and threw some balls around.

We then did one of my very favorite things that Tyler loves to do - read . He will ask me to read to him a book or two and of course I always oblige. I love this time because its one of the few times he will actually sit in my life. But then when he is done with me reading to him he will sit down and read to himself. I love watching him do this. He will read to himself for up to 30 minutes. He carefully takes one book off the shelf, reads it, and then takes down another.

Brenda, his speech therapist then came over and worked with Tyler for about an hour. Working with Tyler means pretty much just playing with Tyler. Tyler does not usually talk in front of Brenda even tho she has been coming close to 8 months now. Today he did do a little better tho and she think he is doing great - as do I. The only concern right now is that he doesn't answer to questions. If you ask him do you want to go outside, instead of saying yes he will just say outside. Or if Carter is napping and you ask where he is he will just point, not answer. So I have to try to prompt him more to answer in words. I am not suppose to give in until he answers. This will be accompanied with a lot of crying and whining I am sure. Tyler does not like, nor do I, when I have to frustrate him on purpose.

After speech as a special treat we all went to Chick-fil -a (with fruit instead of fries of course). The boys love the chicken nuggets there and its one fast food that I don't mind too much giving to them. It was so nice to have such a great day with the boys after yesterdays debacle.

If only the boys were at daycare...

It's days like these that I wish I worked full time. I honestly never thought that I would say that until today. I have a stomach bug. Its not horrible, its not that sickest I have ever been, but it isn't fun. If I was working full time the boys would be in daycare and I would be home in bed ALL day long. However instead I was up at 6:30 with Tyler.

Why I would love to have the day just to stay in bed, that not why I wish my boys were at daycare right now. You see if they were at daycare they would be doing activities, being with friends, doing anything but what we did today:

Tyler woke up at 6:30 with Carter followed closely behind at 7:00. Finally at 8 I got up enough stomach to make them breakfast. And it was a pretty sad breakfast - toast and a banana. So we go upstairs and change diapers. Not into regular clothes, its a stay in your pjs kind of day. Tyler feels like playing hide and seek so I bribe him to go downstairs to watch a movie.

I put in Cars. The boys have never watched all of a movie this long. The longest amount they have ever watched is a full hour of Sesame Street and that is very rare. But we all settle on the couch to watch Cars. Very enlightening for them no? At first it seems pretty nice, we are all cuddling on the couch together enjoying the movie.

However then the boys decide to go and play, but I decide to stay on the couch - not what would be happening at daycare. A little while later Carter comes toddling from the guest room with something in his hand. GLASS!!! I quickly jump off the couch, grab it out of his hand and go into the guest room. There in the corner of the room is a shattered candle holder. I clean up the glass, vacuum the room and think that was a close call.

So as I settle back onto the couch (hey I am sick) Tyler is saying "wed" and pointing at his toes. So why is there red stuff all over his toes..and his hands. Yep it was blood. Blood everywhere. I scoop him up and go into the bathroom and clean him off. Luckily it was just a minor cut on his thumb that he didn't even know he had. He still thinks his "boo boo" is on his toe.

So if only the boys were at daycare I wouldn't feel so bad. Feel bad that I have yet to get on the floor to play with them. Feel bad that I just don't have the energy today to make them more than a pb&j with grapes for their lunch. Feel bad that I have already canceled tomorrows playgroup because I don't want anyone else to get sick.

Oh well tomorrow is another day and hopefully tomorrow I will once again know that they are better off with me. I read once when it comes to children and mommy's guilt that a mom needs to forgive herself because her children already have. So enjoy the pictures of my sleeping angels, giving me the break I need yet may not deserve today.

*Just a note to say that Justin did offer to come home, but like I said I am not doing horribly by any means and since this is their busy season I told him to stay.

Weekend Recap

All in all this was a pretty average weekend for us. Both boys behaved pretty well all weekend which always makes the weekends that much nicer. On Saturday we cleaned a little bit before Justin went to cover two volleyball games. I don't think Tyler was feeling all that hot since he hardly ate anything and actually asked to go to "sleep". So the boys took an early nap and then we went over to some friends house for a playgroup. We came home and took another short nap! We had dinner and then Justin came home. Because of the change in time (can I say how much these time changes are not fun with 2 kids) we kept them up a little later. Some friends came over and we enjoyed a 2 movie John Cusack marathon. Can't beat good ole '80s movies!

The boys woke up at 6:45 on Sunday, but I cant complain too much because they played in their cribs nicely until 7:30 letting Justin and I sleep in. Justin made us all breakfasts and hashbrown casserole and then it was time to watch some football. We later ran some errands.

We did have on nice surprise to this rather boring weekend. One of Justin's best friends from high school (actually he is the pastor that married us) was in Denver for a meeting. When he called we invited him right down. It was very nice to catch up.

On a bad note I am sick with a stomach bug. Tyler seems to be acting fine today tho so hopefully it didn't hit him too hard and no one else will get it.

Differences

It amazes me how two boys only a year apart coming from the same parents can be so different from one another. I get asked at least once a week if they are twins and everyone says you can obviously tell they are brothers. There are some obvious differences - Carter weighs only 2 lbs less than Tyler is. When Tyler was a year old he weighed 3 lbs less than Carter is now.

Its their personality differences that really get me however. Tyler is and always was a lot more active than Carter. Carter is happy to cuddle in your lap for up to 5 minutes, with Tyler you were lucky to get 5 seconds. However Carter gets into so much more than Tyler ever did. When we were baby proofing the house for Tyler we bought those toilet locks. Never had to use them - until Carter started cruising that is. Carter is also systematically destroying all my photo albums one by one. Tyler never went near them, well until the day Carter found them.

Carter is also so much more sensitive. Tyler shrugs things off and has a much higher pain tolerance (or at least acts like it doesn't hurt). Carter is my tantrum child. At one year old he already has the throwing the head back to lay down and scream. Tyler has yet to really have what I would call a tantrum. If he starts one I can usually reason with him to stop.

Tyler is the aggressor. He has his well documented biting problem, but also loves to wrestle and run into things such as couches, pillows and walls just for laughs. Carter is very laid back and takes it all in. Tyler is my observer and loves to people watch. A time out for Tyler on a naughty step is fun for him - he gets to watch everyone. I have yet to give Carter a time out. He bursts into tears if you say no sternly at him.

I can't wait to see how these little personalities will grow and change as they get older. I wonder if they will clash or help them to get along even better. Will one of them love sports and the other music? Will one love school and the other hate getting up each morning? I can't wait to find out.

*The pictures are of both of them at exactly a year old. Similar yet so different.

Without a cart

I have been thinking for a while now that I should try to let Tyler walk thru the store instead of ride in the cart. Usually we do "family shopping" where all four of us go to the grocery store. We just get two carts and the boys both ride in front of one. When I do need to just get a few things by myself, Carter sits in the front and Tyler sits in the big part of the cart. Unless they have the cool car carts, which are Tyler's absolute favorites.

Anyway I wanted Tyler to be able to walk thru the store holding onto my hand or the cart without to many problems. We tried it tonight when it was all four of us. I am very proud to say that Tyler did awesome. At no point he did try to run off or let go of our hands. The biggest problem was him "helping" us shop by taking things we didn't need off the shelves and putting them in the cart. However he was very good about putting them back on the shelves. At the end of the trip, as a reward, he got to put all the items on the conveyor belt. I love the look on his face when you can see how proud of himself he is.

I must say that I feel pretty confident now taking the boys shopping and letting him walk thru the stores. I know they will not always go as smoothly, but I know he can do it. Maybe I will even get enough nerve to go clothes shopping without the beast - also known as our double stroller.

Happy Ween

"Happy Ween" is how Tyler says Happy Halloween. I love how much he talks now. He still gets very quiet around other people, but around us its non stop. His speech therapist says he is almost up to age level now!

Anyway, for Halloween the boys dressed up and went over to our friends neighborhood so they could see them. After stopping by their house for a while we set off on a few more houses. At the last house Tyler finally said "tick r teat" and signed thank you. He seemed to really enjoy himself. Carter seemed to really enjoy pulling the candy out of his pumpkin bucket and throwing it back in.

On the ride home Tyler couldn't contain himself I guess. I look back and he is eating a tootsie pop, wrapper and all. By the time we got home he had managed to get the wrapper off and was enjoying his sticky sucker. Needless to say he finished his sucker and went right to the tub!

Back to Work

Tomorrow I go back to work. I am a supervisor in a church nursery and the boys come with me. Its a great deal as I get paid and get free child care on top of it all. I play with kids all day and get adult interaction. However Tyler has a little problem. O.k. a big problem - biting. He likes to bite when kids take his toys, when kids sit on him, and when he just feels like biting. However we do not allow biting in the nursery. So I took the month of October off to see if that would help the problem. Tomorrow I go back to work.

Part of me is excited. I am excited to have that adult interaction during the day. To see the kids again, to have a break from the boys and the boys from me. I am also somewhat hopeful that Tyler will be better. We went once last week to sub for someone and he did an awesome job. However tomorrow I really go back to work.

I have so enjoyed this time with the boys. We went to playgroups, did crafts, went to the park, all the things I cant do on days we go to work. It reminds me of the time, a little over a year ago, when I was at home with Tyler awaiting Carters arrival. I will always treasure that time Tyler and I had. Not to say that I don't treasure the times I have with both of them now. But that time when it was just Tyler and me and I wasn't working I will always hold close to my heart. We had new adventures everyday. I loved bringing him everywhere and he loved going everywhere. This month has been just like that - only now I have two. I love even running to the supermarket in the middle of the day and being told what cute boys I have. I love going to the park and watching them scream with delight on the swings. I love watching Tyler yell "Carter" and run up the stairs the minute he hears Carter awake from his morning nap. Tomorrow, once again this will not be my daily life - I go back to work.

I will miss all these things. But the boys love going to church and learning all sorts of things and I love working there. Justin and I have decided that I would also cut back my hours. I now will have 2 days home with the boys, sometimes more. Maybe now its the best of both worlds. I am going to treasure my days off and enjoy my days working. So tomorrow I go back to work.

The blog....

So during my break during the day -the wonderful time that Tyler and Carter nap at the same time EVERY day - I read blogs. I keep getting an itch to start one of my own. So I decided why not? This will be a place where I talk about my life. The comings and goings, ups and downs, and just everyday life of our family. Which means most of it will be about the boys - all three of them. So enjoy this little glimpse of my life. Just me and the boys. And what a blessed life that is.