'Twas The Week Before Christmas

..And all through the house, Not a creature was sitting still-especially not the mouse.

 

Yes, now that the boys are 'skilled' walkers (been walking for about 3 1/2 weeks), they have figured out how to DESTROY our house.

 

We haven't put any cabinet locks in our kitchen- we don't really see the need.
They boys Love to pull all of our tupperware out and play with the pots and pans - besides the occasional pinched finger, there hasn't been any issues, so we will let them have their fun!

 

Since last week was such a busy week with appointments and play dates, I decided to keep this week pretty lazy and enjoy time in our house before the Holiday craziness begins.

 

 

Sunday we had breakfast with Grandma & Grandpa! They boys are such good eaters that it is so easy to take them out to eat with us now!

They sat for over an hour and ate an entire Pancake, 1 scrambled egg and 1 banana!

 

Granpa and his boys :)

 

 

This week I have an order of 15 Pumpkin Rolls!

As of right now, I have finished 10 of them.

 

Our plans coming up::

 

Friday night Brad and I are going out! We are celebrating his Momma's Birthday! So my momma will be babysitting :)

 

Saturday is 1 more day of relaxing- finishing presents and making our dishes to take to our christmases.

Sunday is Christmas with Brad's family.

Monday is Christmas with my family.

Tuesday is Christmas in Ohio

then Friday night we will be driving to my extended family Christmas for the weekend!

 

It's going to be a LOooong 7 days- but I can't wait for the boys to open their Christmas presents from 'santa'!!

 

Blake hasn't been taking his morning nap these past 2 days.  He seems to think he is all grown up :)

 

It's nice that they are capable of staying up for 6 hours without a nap, but I'm already missing the time to get stuff cleaned, made, and taking a shower!!

 

Well, it's lunch time for the boys!

 

<3

 



Doctors and Dinosaurs!

 

Another week has passed and what a FUN week it has been!

 

 

Sunday we took our 'formal' Christmas pictures!

 

They turned out good! The boys look SO handsome in the outfits their Aunt Suz got them :)

 

 

 

Monday we had our '9 month' Doctor appointment (Yes, we are 10 months old)

 

Here are the stats::

 

Eli is 

 

21 lb. 1 oz.

29.25" long

45.5 cm head circumference

 

Blake is

 

21 lb. 2 oz.

29.25" long

46 cm head circumference

 

So basically, they are identical. Again. :)

They are in the 60th percentile for weight and height (meaning they are taller and weigh more than 60% of boys their age)

And they are in the 85th percentile for their head size!

 

Everything looked great though and the doctor was shocked they were walking so well and drinking from sippy cups so well.

 

They got 2 shots -

Hep. B

Flu Shot

 

That was a rough day for them- we had to skip their morning nap because of when the appointment was scheduled, and with shots on top of sleepiness= not happy babies.

 

But really, they did great and within 2 minutes of driving down the road, they were asleep!

 

Wednesday...well. it was AMAZING.

 

The boys and I met Steph and Maylee at the Children's Museum!!

I have never been before- but I knew the boys would love it.

We met there around 11am- Steph has a membership to the museum and was incredibly kind to let us come with her for FREE.

We had such a great time with those girls!

When we got to a room that our kiddos could play in, I took the boys out of the wagon and they both RAN in opposite directions.  I was shocked.

I thought they would stand still for a minute to take it all in- or they would stick together so they would have some comfort in each other... I.WAS.WRONG.

 

They wanted to run, play, chew and watch EVERYTHING.

I was having a blast just watching them explore!

 

 

Just a few shots of the boys exploring with miss Maylee :)

Gosh it was such a fun and amazing day!

We really can't thank Steph for letting us go with them!

 

 If you look close, you can see that little boy running away from me!

 

 

Some other funnies from this week:

 

Mommy filled up the pack-n-play with balls!!!

 

Blake has learned his first word!!!

"Hot"

 

We kept saying 'hot' when he was trying to touch outlets and christmas light bulbs and the oven..ect..

So now he says 'hot' a lot!

We went to the library tonight (thursday) and a little girl was playing there. Blake walked over to her, sat down right next to her and said 'hot'.  HAHAHA  

He loves to say that word!! It's so cute and so amazing listening to your baby understand and speak to you! Melts my heart and makes me smile so big.  <3

 

 

 



Deck the Halls

 

 

This week has been so much fun, and it's only Wednesday!

Turning 10 months old seems to have 'clicked' another switch with the boys.

I have been reading a lot on naptimes as the boys get older.

I'm pretty sure they are starting the process of cutting out their morning nap.

 

Every morning they have been staying awake for 3- 31/2 hours!

They are taking a much later morning nap, and shorter (Of course, we can't miss our meal times!!hahaha)

 

Speaking of meal times::

 

 

 

Last night we FINALLY got our tree set up!

And it isn't even our original tree!

We took a quick trip to Goodwill and Brad found this beauty!

 

It was a $200 tree- 7 1/2ft HUGE tree. Goodwill was selling it for $30!!

The picture below is how we have it set up- we took the back half of the branches off and the entire bottom row, and it is still this big!

 

 

Blake wasn't a fan of the 'pokey' branches

But Eli loved it! :)

 

 

So today I tried to snap some 'official' 10 month pictures of the boys!

They are just too darn cute!

 

Here is our 10 month update.

(We have a doctor appointment on Dec. 10th- so I will be getting updated numbers on their height & weight then..)

 

--We have switched over to Size 4 Diapers now!

-I have cleaned out their clothes and packed up all of our 12 month Onesies

 - we are now totally in 18month onesies and shirts! *We are still in 12 month pants and will be for a while- they have such broad shoulders and big bellies- but tiny waists!!*

 

--They are completely walking now! It is very rare that they crawl anymore.

--Walking = BIGGER MESS. Now they can carry all of their toys everywhere with them! So all of their toys end up ALL over the house!

 

--Because they are walking, they can wear jeans now! As you can see in the pictures above, they look super cute in jeans! We have avoided jeans up until now, because jean material is so tight that when they would try to crawl, it would restrict their movement too much. They would end up sitting on the floor crying because they couldn't move.

So we can wear jeans now!!!! I love it!

 

Along with walking, Blake can now stand right up without having to hold on to anything or use an object to pull himself up! He puts his hands on the floor and sticks his booty in the air - and BAM! He's standing up and off running!

 

It is so amazing watching them walk. It is also amazing how much they love each other.

All they do is follow and chase each other around all day.

They are always together. It's so great that they have someone to play with 24/7!

 

 

 

It feels like so much has been happening this week in only 3 days! I am having so much fun watching them grow and playing with them everyday!

 

<3

 



Cookies and Santa!

Yet another week has flown by!
This week the boys turned 10 months old!

Hard to believe! As it feels like we just brought them home from the hospital! (I can remember those hours like it really was yesterday.)

 

On Saturday, I hosted my first 'Cookie Exchange Party'!

I have been planning it for about 1 1/2 months and I was SO excited about it.

 

We had a great turn out of 10 people.

Each person brought 3 dozen cookies and we went around testing their cookies and everyone voted for whose cookie they thought was the best.

I had Hor D'ouvres out for everyone to snack on

-Bruschetta

-Pin Wheels

-Sun-Dried Tomato and Basil Cheese Spread & Crackers

 

Along with those we had;

-Hot Apple Cider

-Hot Chocolate Bar

-Coffee

-Wine

 

At the end of the party, everyone got to load up their containers with 2dozen assorted cookies from what everyone else brought!
They were all so delicious!

 



It was a HUGE sugar rush-- I think maybe next year, we will set the cookies out and allow everyone to 'snack' on them- but not have to try each one to pick a winner. That was just a little too much sugar (I can't believe I just said 'too much sugar!')

 

It was really nice hanging out with friends and meeting new ones!

 

 

Today,Sunday, the weather had a high of 62-ish . We figured it will probably be the last decent/warm weekend this year, so we took advantage of it and made plans to go to Christmas At The Zoo!!

 

I have never been, and Brad hasn't been since he was a lot younger- we were so excited to take the boys to look at all the lights!

We were definitely blessed with the weather! The boys didn't need to wear hats, gloves..ect.. and Brad and I barely needed to wear jackets! Gorgeous night!

 

 

 

Can't tell if they boys are looking at the lights or the Flamingos in the background!

 

 

 

Daddy pulling the wagon :)

 

 

Blake and Daddy looking at the Reindeer!

 

Oh Yes-- That is a BIG tiger.. and the boys LOVED him! :)

....Let's find Santa!!!

 

 





This is the 'Official' Picture from the Zoo photographer.

He was such a great Santa! He sat there and talked to the boys and asked them questions and tried to give them a candy cane and chocolate...haha. Tried.

 

**Oh and the beard was REAL!**

 

 

Such an amazing weekend! But it just went too fast. I needed 1 more lazy day ;)

 

 

 

Here's a fun Sunday night 'trivia' game::

Who is Who????

 

 

BONUS POINTS TO WHOEVER GETS IT RIGHT!

 

<3

 

 

Ain't No Mountain High Enough!

 

Eli and Blake had their first eye appointment at Riley Children's Hospital, since they have gotten their glasses- 2 months ago.

 

 

I was a nervous wreck.

I was stressed out, freaking out, going crazy in my mind.

All of the scary questions that went through my head 4 months ago, started coming back..

-What if their eye pressure is high again?

-What if the surgery didn't fully help them?

-What if we have to have more surgeries?

......GAh- all the What Ifs could KILL me!

 

 

Well, we got to our appointment and the boys were in really good moods! Which always helps me relax a litte- but it was still a ball of nerves.

 

The nurse quickly checked their pressure readings and it was good news!

 

Blake's eyes were reading 8 and 12!  (Anything under 15 is AMAZING!)

Eli's eyes were reading 10  and  10!

Couldn't ask for better pressures!

 

Then the doctor came in. She checked how the prescriptions looked and worked with their eyes- She said the prescriptions still look 100% accurate for both of them - we didn't need knew glasses today- but she did say that we will probably need to get new prescriptions about once a year -as their eyes change.

 

The doctor we had today was a doctor we hadn't met with yet- she told us that the surgery the boys had received 4 months ago was a new 'state of the art' proceedure.

That usually most facilities are performing a 90degree cleanage on the eye's drainage system, but the surgery for the boys was called a 360.  Meaning they went 360degrees around the "drain". She said the success rate with these 360 surgeries is about 90%- meaning that 90% of the kids that receive this surgery do NOT need to ever have another surgery!!!

AMAZING news!!

 

 

Also, she said there is an 80-90% rate in these surgeries of children growing out of glasses.

There is a little boy they are seeing that had this surgery when he was 11 months old.

After the surgery, he was given glasses with about the same prescription as Blake .. a -5.  As of today, that little boy is 6 years old and no longer has to have glasses!! 

 

So, not only have our boys' eyes been saved- and they are able to see the world like the rest of us, but there is a huge chance they might not need glasses when they get older!

How incredible.

At first we were worried about our babies being blind.

Now we are disscussing the possibility of not needing glasses for the rest of their lives.

 

I really can't stop smiling and crying! From this news!

 

 

Here are the boys waiting on the doctor!

I can't believe how identical they look!

Can you guess who is who??

Oh my little Ladies Man!

Such a cutie ;)

 

 



Sickness Is Not a Family's Friend.

 

Well, when we got home from our trip up north Sunday, we knew Blake hadn't been feeling too good, but the worst was still to come.

 

That Sunday night, he didn't drink anything from his bottle before bed- and still slept all night long.

 

He was really clingy Monday morning, I didn't think much about it, but when they woke up from their nap- Blake puked ALL over me. I had to quickly put Eli in his high chair with some food- while Blake continued to vomit all down my front. :(

 

Poor guy was miserable.

 

Luckly that was the only time he threw up- but, we found out this sickness was contagious!

 

Wednesday morning around 5am I woke up super sick- throwing up...Brad still had to go to work so I called my mama  and she came right over! -When you feel like crap, it's almost impossible to deal with 2 little boys.

My mom let me nap almost all day while she took care of the boys- then around 1pm, Brad came home...Sick.

 

(Grammy making Blake feel better)

 

Out of all the sickness in our house, THANKFULLY, Eli never once got sick.  I'm not sure how he managed that, but it's a miracle!!

 

It was only a 24 hour bug, and by Thanksgiving morning brad and I woke up, at breakfast and made our dishes to take to his family's Thanksgiving.

 

 

We had thanksgiving at Brad's cousins house and it was so great! The boys had a lot of fun playing with all of their cousins before lunch time ..

 

 

 

Once it was time to eat, it was also time for the boys to take a nap.

Brad and I put them down for a nap and we were able to eat our thanksgiving meal and hang out with family.  :)

 

Both boys have learned a few new tricks the past week!

 

Blake has learned how to share! He loves feeding Brad and I his animal crackers and if you ask him to give you a toy, he will put it in your hand!  Soo sweet :)

Also, if you put your hand up to his mouth, he will hold out a note so you can make the 'indian' noise hahah.

 

Eli has learned how to growl at Winny- it is so funny!

He is also really good at making the 'indian' noise on his own now- and he can wave 'bye-bye'!!

 

I will post the videos as soon as I can.

They are learning so quick!

They are also constantly walking around now.  I'm thinking by Christmas they will have it down well enough that they might be walking full-time :)

 

Boys just woke up from their nap!

Bye for now!

 

 

 



Christmas Time is here!..but first- Thanksgiving!

I cannot believe the Holiday season has begun!

As soon as the Election days were over, it seemed like the very next day they started showing Christmas commercials!

 

I am a few weeks behind on posts, again, so lets see if I can remember everyting ;)

 

On November 10th we were invited to Miss Maylee's 1st Birthday party!!

 

This was our first birthday party we got to go to and we were so excited!

 

 

 

So much fun! Love that little girl :)

 

 

 

I have started trying to snap some Christmas photos of the boys so I can begin editing them for our christmas cards! Here is a little preview- not finished.  It was so fun seeing the boys play with christmas lights!

 

 

 

This weekend was all of My family's Thanksgivings!!

 

Friday night we packed up and started our 3 hour drive north!

We ran into major construction and traffic which added about 45 minutes onto our drive :(

We got to Aunt Susan's and the boys (who hadn't slept at ALL during the drive) were SO happy to jump around and play! So they stayed up until about 8:30pm- then crashed hard.

 

Saturday we had Thanksgiving with my dad's side.

Grandpa  and

Grandma!

Grandpa Dexter

 

 

Then on Sunday it was my mom's side!

 

Blake finally discovered that Uncle Leon isn't scary!!

 

It was super nice having so many young kids to play and entertain the boys!

Brad and I actually got to sit down and eat a whole meal with no babies!!

 

The boys LOVE cousin Liz and she was so nice to pull Eli and Ella in the wagon!

Ella and Blake got into it over a cup.. Ella's sweet sad face :(

 

 

 

Around 4:30pm we hit the road to start our 3 hour drive home on Sunday.

After about 15 minutes, both Eli and Blake were asleep!

 

But, they only slept for about 45 minutes.

It was a fast drive home and we thought the boys would pass out as soon as we got home, but they stayed up until 9pm playing!!

I think they were just so happy to be home :)

 

 

Happy Monday and  a short work week for all!

<3