Farmer Boys!

Tractor pictures! The first one is of B and my dad.

B was asleep when all of the pictures of S were taken. Next time we'll get better and more pics of B.

My Child Looks Like Hitler

S has a "Hitler mustache". He fell on Monday afternoon, nose first into the driveway. It bled just a little, but the aftermath is much worse. It looks pretty bad, but it does not seem to bother him!

Can't leave B out, even though he was running away from me!

The boys went to their first funeral on Wednesday. I had a great uncle to pass away (it was expected), and I took them with me. They weren't able to sit through the service, so we had to go into another room. But oh did they have fun at the cemetery! They ran all over that place!

And on Tuesday afternoon we played in the back yard. I raked up the pine straw while they rode their tractors, pushed their firetruck and Thomas, played with pine straw and leaves, and ate dirt. I tried to discourage the latter, but it didn't seem to do much good. They had a lot of fun, and got very dirty. I had to strip them down to a diaper outside before I'd let them in the house. Then it was straight to the bath!



We have had lots of fun this week. And it's not over yet!



The car pictures are from this morning. They like to roll cars in the kitchen.

They're Back!

The boys are back! They spent a few days last week at Camp Grandmother. My MIL kept them so I could have a few days to clean up the house and put up the tree. Next year they might be old enough to help, but not this year. They came back with new shoes. How exciting!

Over the weekend the boys went to the Grifton Christmas Parade! Husband and my dad rode my parents' antique tractors in the parade. Then Granddaddy rode the boys on the tractor (in my parents' yard, not down the street). S enjoyed so much he squealed; multiple times. I'll put up pictures of that later in the week. They are on my parents' camera.

Here are a few from the last few weeks. One of particular note: the boys added a decoration to our tree!

B had "Kramer" hair one morning!

Happy Nameless Week!

It's post Thanksgiving, yet Advent has not started, so this week seems to be a nameless, seasonless week. Most people are probably putting up Christmas decorations this week. We have not even thought about it! Well, that's not completely true. We are trying to decide where to put the big tree that is out of the reach of little boys. That is a project for next week.

We had a fantastic Thanksgiving holiday. We spent almost the entire time with husband's family. Grandmother B had a shopping excursion. I hope none of you need any children's clothes from Hartstrings or Strasburg. There is nothing left at those stores. She bought them out! :) We couldn't make it to Osh Kosh because we were starving and had to go eat leftovers. Plus she said they have to pay their light bill this month! I had so much fun watching her have fun!

B might be a quarterback in the making. He has a really good arm. He can throw a ball very well. Maybe we should go ahead and sign him up for Philip Rivers's camp. He also likes to practice his words. We have been trying to teach both boys new words. Yesterday I tried to get S to say 'thank you'. He said 'apple'. We'll continue working on that.

And both boys can jump. I went in yesterday morning only to find them jumping in their cribs. And they are doing it now.

Eating: S has decided to eat pasta pickups and meat sticks again. This is huge. It expands his limited diet. B, of course, eats everything. On Thanksgiving he ate butter beans, corn (both garden veggies, no wonder he ate them), dressing (homemade), hushpuppies. He wasn't a fan of turkey. S didn't eat any of it. Oh, B also had chicken & pastry that night. My grandmother has that instead of turkey every year. And S gave my grandmother a kiss before we left! I am certain it made her year.

They both enjoy giving "loves", hugs. I've been sewing like a mad woman this week, trying to get an order finished, and they will periodically come over and hug me, then go about their playing! Very sweet.

And now it is time to finish my coffee and get going with the day. Have a fantastic week! I'll be back next week with more exciting news and pictures!

Good Morning!

This is what I saw when I went into the nursery this morning. (Yes, B is wearing a Halloween shirt; we're pretty low on long sleeved shirts that fit him, so no comments from the peanut gallery. Also, that is a great idea for a Christmas gift -- pajamas that fit "soft" boys.)

And when I came back from getting my camera, it had progressed.

S also wanted to say "Good Morning!!"

Have a great Thanksgiving!

New Pictures

We've had lots of things going on around our household lately. Mainly sickness. We can't seem to stay well this fall. We went back for B's recheck on his ear infection, and the dr said while his ears were clear, his cold had settled into his lungs and caused wheezing. So for the past 10 days he has been receiving breathing treatments on a nebulizer. He actually likes the nebulizer, making it less dreadful. S picked up the cold too, but his lungs stayed clear. I think they are pretty much better now, and of course I've come down with the cold.

S got his first haircut a few weeks ago! His hair is very long in the back; it hung down to his collar. So we trimmed it. Poor thing was sick, so he wasn't very happy about the haircut.

Then they went to my parents' house for a long weekend. One of our good friends got married, so my parents kept the boys for us. The day we were to leave for Grifton, my car had to be serviced. Fortunately the shop is only less than a mile from our house, so I usually just put the stroller in the car and walk back. This particular day was COLD!! So as you can see I've bundled the boys up!

That evening we were leaving, so I was very very busy trying to pack up 4 people, get the house in order, finish laundry, and go get my car before 5pm/darkness. I was desperate, so I put in their favorite Baby Einstein video, gave them a full snack cup and milk, and let them run wild in the living room. They took that time to turn one of our end tables over, and sit in it.

Fortunately we got to my parents' in one piece. While we were there, I was giving B his breathing treatment, and S had a snack cup. They particularly like to touch the silver coffee/tea set my parents have, and this is what S was up to while I was giving B his treatment.

That weekend we went shopping for a new coat and pajamas. S got some new footed pajamas. I tell him those are his special shoes, and he just loves it! Here they are in our kitchen with their milk.

In this next photo, B is talking on the phone during breakfast. He's very important, he has to take calls while he drinks his milk!

And finally, photos from this afternoon. I've been sick, so husband let me take a very long nap while he watched boys. They like to sit under the desk:

S put on husband's house shoes, picked up his car wash toy and his coat, and waved both hands saying "bye bye". I think he was ready to go!!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving! We'll check back in after the big feast!!

Happy 18 Month Birthday & Boys' 2nd Halloween

What a big evening they had! The Baptist church here in town had a festival on Halloween. We went last year but the boys were too young to know what was going on. But this year was all about FUN!! Upon arrival S and I went "fishing". He caught a tattoo, but we returned it because we were only there to have fun. B threw the bean bag at the cut outs in Noah's Ark. They ran, a LOT! There was a dunking booth, and B wanted the balls so badly, but mean mommy wouldn't allow him. That did cause him to be a little unhappy with me.

There was also a giant blow-up slide that we "rode". I took B and husband took S. It was fun, but too hard to walk up the steps with a heavy toddler, so we each rode only once. B had his first bite of hotdog, thanks to his father, and he also won at the Cake Walk!!

Today they are 18 months old. What an eventful 18 months we have all had! This morning they played outside a bit, and we might try to play more this afternoon.

Enjoy the pictures! (Oh, and we didn't have costumes for the boys this year, so the pictures of them in denim overalls are from Halloween.)

The slide!

B has mustard in the corner of his mouth from his hotdog. Can you see it?

Finally, PICTURES!!

B likes to sweep: S is facinated with water:
They love to read books. But their favorite parts are tearing the books and then actually eating them. I guess it's fiber? This is first thing in the morning, and they requested books immediately. Possibly they were hungry.
I can't remember what he is looking at, but he has a sweet expression! Whenever S's hands get dirty, he eats the dirt off.
Aftermath of eating dirt:
B plays with the watering can:
S's first skinned knee. But he was so tough; he only whinned a little and then it was over!

S is saying a few words. Husband's parents have a cat named Lacy. S can say "ac", and he can say "apple". That doesn't mean he will EAT the apple, he just can say the word. S is going through a phase (I hope it's just a phase) where he refuses to eat most foods. This morning he actually ate his pears and oatmeal and then some cheerios, which was quite exciting. Generally he will eat cheese and peanut butter sandwiches. Sometimes he'll eat green beans, but not always. That's about it. Some days he will eat an apple, other days not.

S is over his bout with croup.

But B loves food. He can eat a whole apple, provided it's peeled. I'm so impressed! B can say "baby", "bye bye", "shoes", and he tries to say "shorts". We went back to the doctor yesterday, and B is not over his ear infection. So we are trying a different medicine now, and hopefully it'll work.

Have a great day!

Sickness!

We have had sickness in our house recently. Really, it all started about 2 weeks ago. The boys had a cold. Then we had a few days of semi-health, I got sick, then when I was better they started getting sick again! S actually had croup over the weekend while B had an ear infection. But we are all on the mend now.

I'm trying to post some new pictures, but blogger is being stupid and not working. So, I'll try again in the afternoon.

New Toy!

The boys have a new toy to play with. One of the ladies in our church gave them this activity table when they were first born. She knew, of course, they wouldn't be able to play with it for a long time. But the time has come! I remembered it yesterday morning, and they have had so much fun with it! I put it in their room and they were back there for a really long time yesterday! It plays music, and in one of these pictures, you will notice S is standing -- he's actually swaying to the music.

Which brings up another point -- my boys love music. If a commerical comes on that has music, they wave their arms. When Sesame Street comes on, they get really excited. Sometimes they dance, sometimes S sways, but there is always some type of reaction to music.

S continues to eat with a fork. B continues to practice saying "bye bye". I heard him saying it this morning soon after he woke up. Late yesterday afternoon we took them outside for a ride in the wagon and let them play in the yard before supper. We had a ball for them to play with, but S wanted to play "kick/step on/pick up the pinecones". We have a huge pine tree in our front yard, and it is quite fruitful and produces many pinecones. A few had fallen and S decided to play with them. I was afraid he would hurt himself, so I picked them all up and put them in our pile of yard rubbish.

As I am typing this, B is sitting quitely reading a book; his "Noah's Ark" board book. He was turning the pages, and got the page where all the animals are going to the ark. Apparently this was exciting because he said something in his language, unfortunately I don't understand it.

Shoes

The boys got new shoes last week. Blue Keds, just what every little boy needs. I realized their toes were at the end of their summer sandles! Up until then, S was wearing my old shoes,

and B was wearing his Sunday Saddle Oxford Robeez. While those still fit, I really wanted them to have something with a hard bottom. So Keds it is, for now. And they just LOVE their new shoes! B actually said "shzz" while we were talking about his new shoes. I am certain he was saying shoes and knew what he was saying. Afterall, he can point out his shoes, so certainly he can say it!

Speaking of saying, B can offically say "bye bye" now. We got home from the football game yesterday (which was at least 1000 degrees as we were sitting in the DIRECT sun for FOUR hours. I'm not sunburned at all.), and husband's mother was keeping them. She said "did you know B can say bye bye?" Apparently he learned this new trick while I was dying of heat.

Both B & S can point to their head, ears, nose, mouth, tummy, and shoes upon command. They don't always do it, but they are able to do so. And S is continuing to eat with a fork. He doesn't even like to eat with his hands anymore. It does take forever to wait for him to spear a single green bean, but it makes him happy, so we wait. B may never use a fork, that takes much to long to get food to his mouth!

And now it is bedtime for mommy! Sorry for the delay between posts. I'll try to be better.

(okay, I've tried several times to put spaces between these paragraphs, but it doesn't seem to be working. so I'm giving up. sorry if it makes it more difficult to read.)

Self Feeding

Last night S decided to feed himself with the fork. He can spear his green beans and sliced meat sticks (he will not eat regular meat, only Gerber meat sticks) and feed it to himself! How exciting! Ben made a mess while he ate last night.

So today at lunch I decided they could try to self feed some yogurt. Dora and Blues Clues has a yogurt that is thicker than the normal yogurt, so it doesn't fall off the spoon as easily. This is what they looked like:

Yes, they decided to abandon the spoon and just eat with their hands at some point. And oh were they MAD when I had to take it away to clean them up. We are not quite ready for total self feeding at this point. We'll stick to green beans & meat sticks.