It's been too long......

Okay Okay -- Stop making me feel guitly for not updating the blog! As normal we have been keeping pretty busy. The first outing after our last post was a trip to the corn field mazes. It was indeed quite the experience. The boys really enjoyed the tractors and sitting in the wagon while mommy and daddy tried to navigate through the maze. After a couple hours mommy gave up. It was hot, past nap time, and we were all hungry. Thankfully there were nice employees to help guide us out.

After threating for months Paw Paw Bud finally came down to visit. We had a jam packed time with him as he wanted to do lots of projects while he was here. He installed our landscape lighting which we have owned for almost 5 years and never installed. He built a retaining wall around our big tree out front. This had been discussed for the last 3 years. He helped to do repairs at our latest house purchased. He also got to spend some great time with the boys. He taught them how to operate an ipad/iphone and also allowed them to eat whole bananas without cutting them up. Jeesh! Talk about chipmunk cheeks on the kids. I can't believe how much they can fit in their mouths at once.

Paw Paw Bud was also here for Halloween this year. The boys were able to use their lion costumes from last year. Last year they only wore the head part for pictures and we didn't go door to door. This year they wore the full costumes and we did go to 3 houses in addition to wearing them at their school party. They thought trick or treating was pretty neat when one of our neighbors gave out cookies!

After Dad left his visit was followed right away by Thanksgiving visitors of Nate, Leslie, and the twins....then Lacey and Dinah arrived. Fun times with a full house. Lots of food, laughs, and shopping for the girls. Meanwhile the men stayed back and re-modeled my attic. Now this doesn't sound like much work but I assure you it was. I was completely out of room with all of the baby items up there! Now my space has doubled. As a bonus Chris also had Nate's help in bringing down all of the christmas decorations this year. I was able to recruit Lacey and Dinah to help (a least a little) with putting the ornaments on the tree.

Thanksgiving was following with four days without guests before we packed up to leave on our trip back to Indiana. We had great fun seeing Gale and Denny, Sondgeroth family, Grandma Handy, and also Charlotte's family and Kev & Dan. I was able to catch up with lots of additional family and friends at the annual christmas bazaar which was nice. We stayed at Dad's the first night and at Kevin's the last two. Having Colston on a cot this trip was a new challenge. Although he did fine on this in May -- he now has more interest in getting up and walking around. We might have to return back to pack and plays for both to make things a little easier...but really who wants to haul two of those things through the airport? This trip was already strapping us with full size car seats and winter coats which we had not traveled with before. Thankfully Dad was a transporter for our bed/cot this trip. The boys had a great time in Indiana and didn't seem to notice the coldness. They were very into the kitty-cats. Everyone seemed to have one that we visited this trip. At Paw Paw's they thought it was pretty fun to poke the kittys with corn stalks. They were too scared to touch them at first. (no kittys were hurt)

The boys have continued to learn and develop at a very quick rate. Miles is especially showing his talets. He can sing twinkle twinkle, wheels on the bus, and jingle bells pretty much by himself. ABCs, 123s, and colors are all familar and many times correctly identified. Miles also has formed a few full sentences which made Chris and I turn our heads. Colston is still the quieter child but he makes up for his with his sly personality. He has become the one we have to watch as he doesn't listen very well. He also knows some colors, 123s, and ABCs put doesn't vocalize unless he is ready to share. He still likes to sleep and generally takes the world on at his own pace. (Similar to someone else I know) Colston's favorite activity right now is putting objects into ziploc bags. Not sure why ---. The boys like balls, playing outside, and playing with trucks that make sound. They also like to stack things.

Outside of the kids I have been still working 3 positions at work. This should stop as of Jan 1st as I have a new hire in place and also will be splitting out the other position among my current team. When not working the full time job I purchased another house for us to rent out. It turned out to be a very good investment as it was rented within 2 weeks of our closing. So as you can see we have been super visit lately. It's not that I didn't want to update the post it's that I didn't have the chance. Hopefully as the new year starts I'll have less work myself and more time to take pictures and blog. Merry Christmas to all! Cards will be on their way soon.

We can swim!

18 Months Already

Shortly after my last post the boys had their 18 month checkup. Colston was just finishing having a touch of the flu for 3 days so his iron count was low. He now is taking liquid iron to be sure his counts remain high. That stuff smells wonderful. I'm not sure how he swallows it but he does with a smile most of the time.
Prior to the appointment Miles had been having some coughing spells. He would wake up during the night and cough for up to 45 minutes. No drink or cough medicine seemed to help. The doctor thinks this may be the beginning stages of asthma. Miles therefore is using a nebulizer every night before bed. At first it was hard to get him to sit still for it but now he is doing good and knows that we have book and puppy time before bed each night. (the nebulizer looks like a puppy which helps). Both boys were low in weight this checkup which was a surprise since they have always been on the heavy side. Height they are both average and their head size remain at the top of the charts. Here are their 18 month stats:

Colston:
Weight - 24 pounds (25th percentile)
Height - 32 1/2 (50th percentile)
Head - 19 inches (75th percentile)

Miles:
Weight - 23 pounds 14 oz (25th percentile)
Height - 32 (50th percentile)
Head - 19 inches (75th percentile)

We also began our swim lessons on Aug 22nd. It has been amazing watching the boys learn how to swim and float on their own. I'm really glad we decided to go down this road however the lessons are taking a toll on us. It's four days a week 15 minutes each right after work. By the time we get home from swim lessons it's time to eat then one hour later it's time for baths/bed. We are about 1/2 way through now.
Both of the boys are really growning up. They aren't babies anymore which is so strange. Miles can be a handful at times. He tests his limits alot. This comes with lots of time in time out. He is full of energy - he runs fast, plays hard, and crashes. At times he is so tired from the day he can't make it through dinner. He is quite popular at daycare and all of the teachers love him. We frequently notice that he is not in his "room" at daycare but walking around with a teacher socializing. He is the biggest flirt I have seen yet he plays hard to get and getting a kiss from him voluntarily is rare. I guess it hurts his "game" already to give a kiss to his mother. Ugh. Miles LOVES puppies and will run aways from you yelling puppy puppy if one is in eyesite.
Colston has remained to be very laid back. He is going through a phase where he doesn't like to eat most meats but will eat turkey or anything we put in a quesadilla. He will refuse to eat something on his plate so we will put it in a shell, heat it, and 5 minutes later he is in heaven. Not sure how long that trick will last.
Both of the boys LOVE cookies. In fact they think anytime the oven turned on it's for cookies. They enjoy watching them bake through the window which is cute. Their vocabulary has increased and at times they are little parrots. Miles more so than Colston. They say two word phrases now like "leave it", "come here", and "all right".
Enjoy the photos from the last few weeks. More fun at a different park. We also went to this one yesterday and Colston threw his first fit when it was time to go. We weren't able to stay long as Miles ran into a metal beam which produced a nice egg on his forehead. I also included photos from cookie watching and a couple swim lessons in the very beginning. We got our second set of car seats for Daddy's car. The boys hate the baby carrier ones since they face backwards. They were trying them out for the first time which was funny because they both were sitting on one. We also brought out our halloween decorations over the weekend and the boys enjoyed putting window clings up. Great activity and they keep going back and moving them.

Time at the Park

It's getting harder for me to remember what is "new" with the boys to update with. I forget how much they have grown and changed until someone asked if they are walking yet. In a simple word - NOPE - they don't walk.... the full speed toddle/run everywhere they go. They understand commands very well but only follow them when it suits their mood. It's amazing how they pick up something that's fun when asked but if it's pickup your cup then they don't quite understand how to do that. Their vocabulary is increasing. I think we are probably the only ones that can decipher it at this point but the words are getting a little more understandable. Favorites are "Oh no" which is accompanied by hands to each side of the face. (a trick they must have learned at school), Ball, puppy, yep, more, outside, car, truck, milk... miles calls his blanket a "B" while Colston calls it a "D". Not sure why. Colston eats like a man and will consume almost anything you put in front of him. Favorite is probably quesidillas or hamburgers. He also loves fruit. Miles doesn't like fruit and is a much pickeyer eater. (is that a word) Above all hands down favorite of both boys is bananas. Also called nanny, nanny, nanny at the top of their lungs whenever one is in site. I'm so glad our grocery store keeps them at the end of so many aisles. I think I heard the word 110 times during our last visit. The cutest thing the boys now know is how to hug and kiss. Sometimes when they do it to each other it more resembles a tackle -- but since they are boys I guess that's okay.
For entertainment the boys like books, bathtime, swimming, and playing outside. I only allow them to play with the hard back books at this point and even those are falling apart at the seams. "Aqua" is also a favorite. Yes - our children say aqua instead of water. If we get them out of the car and the sprinklers are on they immediatly run through them. When the bath water starts running they scream in delight. Colston almost took a nose dive into the tub this week when it tried to reach over to touch the water he was so excited. The pool is also a favorite. The last two weekends we had the boys in the water practicing going under water for the first time. It's amazing they can be smiling with their mouth open and still come up smiling. We are all ready for our survival swimming that starts next week. The boys got new recliners for the living room. Just like Daddy's. Our hope is that they will sit in these verses trying to climb on our furniture all of the time. Mommy also got new patio furniture so I was super excited to expand out the boys planning area to include some adult seats. I don't have photos of it yet but I'll include them next time. I found some old pictures from a couple weeks back to add to the blog as well as some taken this weekend at the park. We had to make an effort to get the camera out since someone said the blog needed updating!











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Independance Weekend Fun

Since the last post the boys have logged a few more frequent flier miles. We did the tour de Slidell over Father's Day weekend. During the trip we were able to celebrate Nate's twins' graduation. The boys also got in lots of one on one time with Lacey and Dinah which was nice. In true travel form I didn't take any pictures. It seems I have the best intentions and always forget. The boys enjoyed playing with some different toys at Dinah's. George and Trudy even brought them so very noisey tractors. The boys were also exposed to "snow balls" for the first time which I did get a photo of. Colston was a big fan! We think this may be because his cough suryup is also grape.
Kevin was here visiting over the holiday weekend. We took the boys out on the boat for the first time. It actually worked out very well with the extra set of hands to help. The boys didn't even flinch at the life vests. It was like they weren't even wearing them. On the eve of the 4th we went downtown sanford and watched fireworks. The boys did great. No one was scared. overall it was a nice weekend.
The boys are getting taller and faster week by week. They walk around like little men and hate to be left out. They have been working on using spoons. They do well in the beginning but usually are using their hands before the meal is over. They also like to go in the pantry to help pick out snacks or meals. They come out with some pretty strange things sometimes. (tuna fish, peanuts, bisquick) What ever is on a low shelf is an option these days. I recently cleaned the pantry and Colston left with his arm all the way in the jumbo bag of doritoes. Thankfully I got them before they were dumped on the ground. Their vocabulary has also increased. Miles' favorite is "puppy" and "bird". Everything in the sky is a "bird" including planes and fireworks. They both say: nite nite, bye bye, momma, daddy, no no, pees (please), tank u (thank you), and more. Colston is very good at sign language so he doesn't talk quite as much as Miles. They know signs for mom, dad, thank you, more, drink, diaper, and eat. Makes it much easier to communicate. Communication also gets them in more trouble as Miles has a tendancy to say "no no" as he is doing something wrong which helps us to find him faster. The boys also like to be outside alot. Their father made the mistake of letting them play in the sprinklers so we have to make sure we are close when the sprinklers come on as they both start running so they can get wet. Miles also loves the neighbors dog and will take off running yelling "puppy" when they come out. The boys also are learning the parts of the body. They can both point to ears, mouth, and eyes. Miles needs some work on nose as he sticks his finger up his nose to identify where it is. Enjoy the photos.