Happy Halloween

I took way too many pictures... so many that my camera battery died before the fun was over... oh well! This year we had lots of opportunities to celebrate. First up was my schools harvest carnival... no costumes, just prizes and face painting. Jonathan LOVED watching all the big kids play the games. We had our annual Hallo-wii party with our small group (even though we never even turned on the wii). Jonathan kept asking if Thomas was going to dress up like a crazy person again. Last night we went to Trinity in the pass Halloween Happening at the school by our house. Tonight we went to visit my parents and then check out "trunk or treat" at the sports park. We trick-or-treated our cul-de-sac and have been spending the rest of night passing out candy to all the cute kids that come to our door.
Since we already had a monkey costume and Jonathan loves reading Curious George books I convinced him he could be the man with the yellow hat. David is pretty go with the flow so not much convincing there.

I dyed JT's outfit from some hand-me-down clothes. Spraypainted his hat that my mom found thrifting and a little felt tie inspired by a pattern on pinterest.

We looked for some brown boots but no luck.

The little monkey is just excited to experience some candy.

And of course when you get sick of taking pictures you climb up the slope to go exploring.

Pumpkin Patch

So I took a zillion pictures at the patch! I will upload more to facebook... so check there if you are dying to see more pictures of pumpkins and my cute boys.

A couple of weekends ago we had a wedding to go to in the evening so Alyssa came out to watch the boys for us. We decided to go to the Greenspot pumpkin patch in the morning. It was perfect since the patch isn't great for stollers and David isn't great at walking all by himself. So we had three people to carry him. :0) They loved seeing all the animals and JT found hay and I found some corn to feed them. Then we hung out by a little play area for a while.... there is a little train there and let me tell you David LOVES LOVES LOVES to "drive" and was so happy to be at the steering wheel. We went through a little maze of bushes with Jonathan leading the way. At the end of that maze there is a little kids pumpkin patch. He had a great time gathering pumpkins to give to David who had a great time pushing them down the hill. One pumpkin went WAY down the hill and scared the horses down below and we had to stop that game. We sampled some honey at the honeyhouse and went on a tractor ride. Our little guide was pretty funny too. Then Jonathan picked out a pumpkin and I picked out a couple of avocados and we were on our way. We got there when it opened and basically had the place to ourselves. It was so much fun! While it is pretty exhausting at times it is fun to take the crazies places. They just get so excited about being outside and doing new things.

Finished

I am finally done with one of my little nap time craft projects. With a nice first grade class this year I haven't been spending my nap times catching up on school work leftover from my work week OR recovering and taking a nap myself!

I was inspired by Pinterest.... always makes me want to get my craft on... although I do admit I probably waste ALOT of time on there!

I started by making the strap cover... then making some little ribbon flowers with buttons. I only used supplies I had on hand. Today I finally got the whole thing put together! I even made a little pocket for the lens cover. Not too bad for someone who can't sew. :0)

Never laughed so hard in all my life!

So I hesitated to even post this.... be warned there are alot of cute baby buns coming up! Please don't think I am a neglectful mother. I promise the boys were only out of my sight long enough for me to put some face lotion on and throw my hair into a wet pony-tail. While I was in my bathroom I heard some serious baby giggles and Jonathan saying in a stern voice - DAAAABBBBBBERRRRRRS I need to change you, lay still coming from David's bedroom! I ran down the hall to see what was going on and when I realized I quick grabbed my camera.
Changing pad on the floor and one baby without a diaper. Fresh diaper prepped and ready. Big brother trying to wrangle one wiggly, giggly baby.
Big brother who claims his diaper was soggy so he is going to change it. (just so you don't think I am totally neglectful it was just changed , notice they are still in jammies)

Trying to lay him down on top of the diaper (again..... and I was no help because I was laughing hysterically)
Run away baby!
Chasing him down with the diaper.
Maybe putting it on this way will be easier!

I have a feeling this is the beginning of the end with these two. David had a smile and laughed the whole time! After the whole thing was over Jonathan asked me to thank him for being such a good helper! I just had to laugh and tell him it was very nice of him but I would change all the diapers from now on and he could really help me by picking up all the supplies he took out. Ay ya ya!

pets

So since our goldfish went to go swim in the lake (aka got flushed down the toilet) we have had an empty fish tank in the shed. The other day Thomas noticed that our tomato plant (pretty much the only thing that grew in our garden this year) getting eaten by something. Turns our there were some huge tomato bugs on the attack. He captured them and put them into the tank. Jonathan has been faithfully feeding his pets by giving them fresh leaves and woodchips. He was actually pretty responsible about taking care of them! I found a grasshopper the other day and managed to catch it to add to the collection. It didn't stay to long and escaped (or got eaten) sometime during the night. It has been fun to have some little bug pets to watch!

I do have to say that the other day we had the chance to add another pet. We have had a lizard come into our house 3 times! I am pretty sure it is the same guy. 1st time - only in the garage and Thomas swept him out. 2nd time - in my LIVINGROOM and I had to call my dad while standing on a chair to come capture him. Totally freaked/grossed me out! 3rd time - laundry room - Thomas caught him and accidently cut off his tail ( I was gone at the time). I do hope my boys keep their creepy crawly collections to a few bugs.... I can handle that. The lizard on the other hand... I hope he learned his lesson and stays far far away!

Morning in the Bounce House

After David's party we still had the bounce house the next morning. So we had to jump in our jammies right?!

And again when David was up.

David at one year

weight - 20lbs

length 30 1/2 in

teeth - two on the top and two on the bottom. two side front teeth are poking in on each side of the top.

sleep - all night! and two naps during the day

eats - EvErYtHiNg. He is happiest when it is something he can do himself. Most mornings he eats cheerios and oatmeal with bananas.

nursing - down to morning and night with a bottle of milk mid-day. he does NOT want milk in a sippy from me but will take it in a bottle. he does NOT want milk in a bottle from grandma honey bunny but will take it in a sippy.

walking - not yet! he is a super star crawler and I think he has taken one independent step. He does walk around everything and stand for a few seconds. I think he might be scared of the hard ground!

words - yah, hi, and mama (in Davers talk :0) to anyonelse they sound like grunts). His most effective word is EHHHH while pointing/ grabbing at what he wants. he does babble alot.

He is a dancing machine... any music comes on and he is ready to rock out! so cute!

He gives the sweetest open mouth kisses.

David LOVES to wrestle his brother. Danger is his middle name. He is also very stealth when getting into things he shouldn't (like toilet water .... EW!)

His first birthday was fun but a little crazy. At JT's party it was nearly all babies who were barely walking... for David the bounce house was in full effect and kids were all over the place. He loved all the action and chowed down his cake.

My sweet David - you are getting too big too fast. I love watching you grow and change but please slow down! You are so much fun right now I want you to stay this age just a little longer! :0)

I am still here!

So I don't know what it is but it is almost like I need to have 10,000 things on my to do list for me to even think about posting on the blog. This is more like a random journal post for me...

* I LOVE David and Jonathan's ages and stages right now. sooo much fun. I took them to the library the other day and it was so cute to see the two of them sitting next to each other for the story.
* Now that David's teeth are through he is a much happier baby. He loves just playing in the playroom and outside, he sneaks out every chance he can. He got his top two at 10 months and top left at 11 months.
* I am loving pinterest - making me feel much more creative! So far I have made a cleaning routine, a camera strap cover with ribbon flowers, some hairbows with school colors for the spirit run AND I made labels for the office. OH and I made a super cute project with the first graders.
* Trying to do more school things with Jonathan... We are working on writing his name... I am remembering back to my kinder days and telling my partner teacher I was CrAzY for naming him such a long name and should have picked something shorter... just for the sake of making it easier for him to write. So far he has the J t and o down pat.
* I love how Jonathan says evern instead of even.
*Having so much fun with my fresh batch of first graders.
*Miss going to Havasu... need to go more but we have had too much going on every weekend.
*Saw The Help after reading the book and I really LOVED both.
*I have been exercising almost everyday... but I have a hard time on working days when it is super hot outside.... I make myself feel better by saying at this time one year ago I weighed over 200 lbs and now I am so much less than that! and my fat pants that were pretty "booty" last year are actually starting to get a little loose.
*So over nursing David... but he is soo not...
*David basically eats what we eat... that kid can gnaw anything! He also likes stealing JT sippy. Especially when it has the nasty crystal lite lemonade in it! EWWW

ok so my goal this week is to take some pictures, the blog about them... OH and start reading groups with my class... and about 9,999 other things!

David 10 months

Time flies when you are having fun... so much for those weekly posts! I hope to do a post about what we have been up to this summer but more important is my sweet baby David!
I have worked on his (and Jonathan's) baby books this summer but I realized how much I relied on the blog to remember important things about JT so here we go!

At 10 months David now.....
95th% for head, 90th% for height and 45th for weight at his 9 month check. Since learning how to crawl our little chubsters has thinned out.
He can pull himself to standing and has bruised his cheek from falling down but he is getting much better at falling with grace. No standing alone but he is starting to cruise and stand by leaning on something.
David loves to play! Totally the opposite of Jonathan. He wakes up in the morning and starts to play with his blanket, stuffed animals or pulls the baby monitor into bed with him. More often than not that is the sound that wakes me up and not a crying baby. He adores being in the playroom and making little messes. He also enjoys playing in our little tikes garden or pool outside but HATES being on the grass. He is very happy being able to do his own thing and check things out.
He just cut his top left tooth and is a chewing, drooly monster! He has a harder time with teething than JT did and has had some nights where he cries in his sleep (but is not awake when I go check on him... poor buddy.)
We go on a walk everyday and he sings away or eats cheerios.
He says his own version of Hi when you say hi to him or when he wants your attention. He also makes a high pitched sound for yay! He also has an "I'm hungry" noise/ cry that he uses while pulling up on his highchair. (funny story the other night dinner was taking longer than I thought and he was on the brink of starvation pulling up on his highchair.... we were eating outside so Thomas took it out there... the TEARS!!! is no one going to feed me?) He also has the sweetest laugh.
He plays peek a boo and does "so big".
He hasn't met a food he doesn't like but when he is full he starts to fling it on the floor. He likes it much more when he eats bites of what we are eating, he just gets this pleased little look. He still nurses 3-4 times a day. He does not use a sippy cup well yet, mostly just to chew on.
He loves to wrestle Jonathan and I have to tell them both already to be gentle. He is generally very easy going but can be a little stubborn and throws a little fit if I tell him no (like tears streaming down his face yelling at me for not letting him play with an electrical outlet).
I rock him for his morning nap while reading him and JT stories, I snuggle him on the couch for his afternoon nap and at night time he goes to bed after a bath and nursing.

Sunday Photographs May 22nd

I love how it seems like Davers is getting strangled a little so he is punching Jonathan.... how can you resist those smiles.

8 months

3yrs 1 month

sunday photographs May 15th

Jonathan
David
Brothers
Not so sure about cooperating for pictures

Started out as "give your brother a kiss and turned into a little nibble".... poor Davers.

I saw this on another blog and thought it was such a cute idea. I have been taking pictures of the boys almost every Sunday but haven't got around to posting them. Even though it seems crazy we actually have time before church to take pictures.

David at 8 months

In two days David will be 8 months... how can that be??
He is at my favorite "baby age". It is nice that he isn't at the overwhelming infant stage but he isn't all over the place yet either. He got his first two teeth on the bottom at the same time about 3 weeks ago. He can sit quite well and goes to his tummy or back with a little bit of control now. He has been rolling all over the place and scoots himself backwards. I can tell he is getting ready to move forward soon because he is getting frustrated backing into and under the couch! Davers LOVES LOVES LOVES to eat... he nurses around 4 times a day and enjoys 3 food meals and snacks. I have started mashing up some of his veggies instead of grinding them up and he has done great. He likes to gum cheerios and little bits of bread. He definitely has the chewing motion down pat for eating. He does his "ho ho" voice to mean he is hungry and a happy little chuckle anytime I give him the tiniest taste of what we are eating. He takes two pretty consistent naps everyday and sometimes an evening one depending on how the earlier ones went or how busy the day was. I always rock him for his naps and just lay him in bed at bedtime after his bath. He loves the water baths are his favorite and even the freezing lake or pool have been fun to splash in. David has been our little chunky chubster and even though he is still pretty rolly with all of his moving around he is starting to thin out a little and actually get a neck. He loves to sit and play with toys (VERY unlike Jonathan at this age) and he really likes being in the swing in the backyard. Overall Davers is a very happy/ chill baby. He is pretty go with the flow as long as he is fed and not too tired. He is a snuggle bug who gives the best little hugs. He also talks a lot. I swear he says hi... so I think I could count that as his first word. It is so fun to have little conversations with him.

Jonathan is 3

I totally realize I am now nearly a month behind on this post but better late than never! It is hard to believe that our sweet little Jonathan Bean is now 3 years old. Here are some of the things he is up to lately.

• For his birthday he wanted a motorcycle birthday. We had a "small" family party that grew and grew. His favorite part was the motorcycle cake that Auntie Kaitlyn made. It was a pretty hot day and at one point he disappeared for a moment to return in swim clothes... he got out his pool and all the cousins got in with their clothes on! He asked and asked for a swing set. He got one and we set it up during his nap. When he was up from his nap we got ready to take him out and I asked him what his big present could be in the backyard... his answer... a very excited "POOL"!hmmm... sorry buddy its the swing set you asked for for months.


• He is pretty much potty trained and only wears a pull up for night-time (he was wearing them for naps for a while but not any more).


• Speaking of naps he still takes a nap everyday. Without one he is a teary mess at 6:00.


• He sleeps every night with Soft Lovey and every night Soft Lovey pushes his pillow off the bed and he has to come out to tell us and put the pillow back on his bed. He has been without a pipie for quite a while now and it seems strange to think that there was time he couldn't sleep without one.


• He goes to a Sunday school class" frogs" upstairs at church instead of going to nursery... after a rocky start he is pretty independent going in.


• Nearly all of his meltdowns during the day can be quickly turned around with a stick of string cheese. His favorite lunch is flat bread with hummus.


• This kid LOVES himself some Frugos and hot-dogs. I think if he had it his way that would be all he eats.


• When we go out to eat he orders for himself.


• He can sing the ABCs and recognizes quite a few letters and knows almost all his sounds.


• His favorite toy lately: a dog leash - he uses it to tie down stuff in the back of his truck, water ski behind a pretend boat, chase down the dogs to try to take them on a walk (he never has...), or he tries to convince any willing participant to be the dog, he also enjoys tying people up (pooooor Davers...), he was also towed on his bike a few times by the neighbor or me.


• He loves books and has memorized quite a few to read back. He loves to be read to and read by himself in his room.


• When I ask him favorites this is what he tells me: color-sparkle, place - Beaumont, person - mommy and my favorite boys are David and daddy, book-Color ABCs, job - working with daddy on the plants, food- pasta, movie-chicka chicka boom boom


• He LOVES Thursday when he gets to see the trash truck.


• He LOVES LOVES LOVES to go out to Havasu and go on the boat. Even if it is just in the garage.


• He has a pretty big vocabulary for such a little guy and is constantly surprising us with his logic.


• Whenever I ask him what he would like to do he always says stay home and play. He has become much more into playing. I love watching him in the backyard and in his playroom.

Everyday is an adventure with Jonathan. He is such a smart boy who is constantly making us laugh and wonder how we are so lucky to be his parents and watch him grow up. Sometimes I wish I could pause time. While the adventures can be exhausting it is just so much fun. I LOVE this age :0).

Jonathan's birthday dinner

This was the first year Jonathan was really able to pick what he wanted for his birthday dinner. He wanted to have spagetti so we went to the Spaghetti Factory in Redlands. It was such a fun way to celebrate. He got pretty quiet and shy when they came to sing to him and it was so sweet to hear him say a little "yeah" when they were singing.

Brothers at 6 months

My good friend Faith takes some great pictures... It is so great to have someone that knows kids so well to take pictures. Maybe I shouldn't compare them but I seriously have to label ALL my pictures very carefully to make sure I don't mix up my sweet boys. :0)

David:

Jonathan:

David has been chewy and seemingly cutting teeth FOREVER with no actual teeth poking through. Jonathan's first tooth popped out a day after this pic was taken.

David:

Jonathan:

David:

Jonathan:

David:

Jonathan:

They even wear the same clothes! (I do have to say that right now David is wearing clothes that Jonathan was walking in..... I have the best of both: a chubba-bubba and a skinny-minny!)