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.