I have no real excuse for my slacky blogging. I just haven't MADE the time to update it. It will seem like only a few days have gone by but then I look and a whole month of no updates will have gone by. SORRY!!! If it makes you feel better I will put a LOT of pictures in this blog :)
We made the annual trip up to WV for Thanksgiving. We went to my Mom's house in Elkins instead of my Aunt's house in Martinsburg. Every other year my stepfather has to work on Black Friday so we have to alternate the location. The location isn't such a big deal as long as we get to visit with family. The boys did very well all things considered. Its a long drive and the car is no place for 2 wild toddlers to be for 6 hours. I did let them out of the car halfway to play at a McDonald's playland and that helped make the second half of the trip go a little better.
The kids had fun playing with their 'uncle' Will (who is too young to really be an uncle so we call him whatever he wants to be called... cousin, brother, etc.. it doesn't matter!)
We made the annual trip up to WV for Thanksgiving. We went to my Mom's house in Elkins instead of my Aunt's house in Martinsburg. Every other year my stepfather has to work on Black Friday so we have to alternate the location. The location isn't such a big deal as long as we get to visit with family. The boys did very well all things considered. Its a long drive and the car is no place for 2 wild toddlers to be for 6 hours. I did let them out of the car halfway to play at a McDonald's playland and that helped make the second half of the trip go a little better.
The kids had fun playing with their 'uncle' Will (who is too young to really be an uncle so we call him whatever he wants to be called... cousin, brother, etc.. it doesn't matter!)
Logan had fun playing with Geema's pots and pans.
The boys also took a moment to pull all of the pillows off of Geema's couch and roll around on them. (more of this action to come later)
Big Lots had these nice recliners on sale on Thanksgiving Day so I got Mom and Al one as an early Christmas present. They had to wait until all the kids were gone before they could actually use it!
After a great visit with my mom we went to Milton WV to visit with my college friend Erin. Our kids always have such a wonderful time playing together. Brenden was very happy that Bailey played so much with Logan because it gave him some much needed alone time. However he did enjoy hanging out with Bailey too.
Such Sweethearts!
Logan had fun eating dry cereal from a bowl with a spoon.
We got home and put up our Christmas tree and the boys loved it. We have to keep the bottom 2 feet of the tree toddler-friendly. No hooks or glass balls at the bottom. I tried to skip the icicles this year but there are a few stragglers from last year still stuck on the tree and Logan likes to collect them and try to put them back up on the tree.
Brenden enjoys jumping on pillows. One day I walked into the living room and noticed all of the back pillows of the couch, love seat and chair were all missing and then I saw off to the side where they all are.
I took a few Christmas pictures of the boys. I just love their coordinating outfits from Crazy 8. I don't do the exact matching outfits if I can help it. Since they are so close in age I feel like its important to keep their identities separate. Its probably more important to me than to them.
Love this picture of my sweet Logan. I didn't have the flash quite right on my camera but this was one of the few cooperative pictures I got out of him so I had to keep it!
And my super-handsome Brenden... He always takes such good pictures. He is so animated with his face and fairly cooperative so its easy to get an adorable smile out of him.
This ended up being my Christmas card photo. The boys love to yell so when I couldn't get them to smile I resorted to a yelling contest :) I love it because they look like they are singing Christmas Carols (and was able to find a fa-la-la card theme from Sam's!)
Lol.. not sure what this expression is, but my guess is it was a quick snapshot before he jumped off the stool and took off running again. He does NOT like to pose.
The boys figured this pose out all by themselves and I thought it was very cute. Too bad I couldn't get Logan to smile! At least he's not crying.
Some more close-ups of my future heart-breaker.
Logan wanted to be 'all done' with the photo shoot so he put his hands up in the air using his sign language for 'all done' and proceeded to storm off of the set. As my mom said... 'such a diva' .. so true, so true
However even if I couldn't get him to smile, I was able to get an adorable moment of eye-contact and snowflake ornament eating.
Updates on the boys:
Brenden
Brenden is proceeding to the age of 3. Didn't he just turn 2. In just over a month we'll be celebrating the big # 3 for him. I am continually told by his teachers just how smart he is and how much he amazes them. He knows all of his letters and numbers (has for quite some time). He (mostly) knows his right from his left. He is learning Spanish in school and can count up to number 15 in Spanish! He is totally a mama's boy and loves to demand my attention ALL of the time. He tells his daddy that they are mama's hugs and kisses. He wants me to do everything for him and nobody else. Although I enjoy the attention, its also important for him to know that other people can tend to him because sometimes Mommy is sick or sleepy or has her hands full with something else. He is really into the Wonder Pets right now but still thinks Micky Mouse is a pretty cool dude too. He still doesn't like to eat but we are working on being a little more strict with his dinner these days and requiring him to take at least ONE bite of everything on his plate. Some days he turns his nose up before even trying it and after a long battle he finally tries it and ends up cleaning his plate because he likes it after all. He has been eating baby spinach salads which is such a wonderful sight since he hates all things vegetable. He is very much a gentle soul and for the most part a very happy and loving little boy.
Logan
Logan just had his 15 month checkup. He is in the 60th percentile for his height and 25th percentile for his weight. I was surprised about the weight because his fat rolls are quite abundant (unlike his brother who has little bird legs and no caboose at all!) He is finally getting more teeth. He got 4 teeth at around 9-10 mos and nothing has come in ever since. Finally the little teeth are breaking through. Its been tough on his as he has a runny nose and is drooling constantly and doesn't want to eat anything hard at all (he even turned down a cookie!) He hangs on the freezer door and begs for Popsicles all day long. I will be happy when the worst part of these two teeth are over .. but I know there are more to come.
Logan will need to see a urologist. He was diagnosed with a hydrocele at birth and it has not cleared up and may even be worse now. The hydrocele causes fluid to fill in the sac around the testicle causing it to become enlarged. It was slightly enlarged as a newborn/infant but it is significantly enlarged now. So we will get that set up and see what comes of that. I hope it will not involve any sort of painful procedure to correct. He doesn't seem to be in any pain, but it can progress to something that is painful and/or uncomfortable if left untreated. He is using all kinds of words now and is picking up language way faster than Brenden ever did. I think its a difference in personality. Logan has always been very expressive and Brenden likes for you to nurture him and ask him what he needs. Logan demands it lol. Some of his latest words : Jacket, school, outside, plate, cup, cereal, mess, more, all done, bye bye, dada, baby, yeah, no, cookie, cracker, surprise, peek a boo, mine, ball, slide, please. He loves to play patty-cake and for me to sing songs to him (always ends with him clapping and saying YAY!) He is running and is trying his hardest to jump (oh yah, that's another word he can say). He continues to try to catch up to his brother's development as fast as he can.
I love that I have 2 totally different little boys. Its just so much fun to experience motherhood for a second time and see everything happening a completely different way. I love their individuality and personalities. I love that they fight one minute and hug and kiss the next.. SUCH a little brother/big brother mentality. I love that Brenden says "yay Logan" when he hears Logan using new words. The other day Logan was waiting by the toaster oven for his waffle (oh, there's another word he can say) and kept saying "beep beep beep" because he knows that's the sound the toaster makes when the waffle is done. Then Brenden says "Yay Logan! Mama, he says "beep beep beep" Yay Logan!" Its so sweet!!
Brenden is proceeding to the age of 3. Didn't he just turn 2. In just over a month we'll be celebrating the big # 3 for him. I am continually told by his teachers just how smart he is and how much he amazes them. He knows all of his letters and numbers (has for quite some time). He (mostly) knows his right from his left. He is learning Spanish in school and can count up to number 15 in Spanish! He is totally a mama's boy and loves to demand my attention ALL of the time. He tells his daddy that they are mama's hugs and kisses. He wants me to do everything for him and nobody else. Although I enjoy the attention, its also important for him to know that other people can tend to him because sometimes Mommy is sick or sleepy or has her hands full with something else. He is really into the Wonder Pets right now but still thinks Micky Mouse is a pretty cool dude too. He still doesn't like to eat but we are working on being a little more strict with his dinner these days and requiring him to take at least ONE bite of everything on his plate. Some days he turns his nose up before even trying it and after a long battle he finally tries it and ends up cleaning his plate because he likes it after all. He has been eating baby spinach salads which is such a wonderful sight since he hates all things vegetable. He is very much a gentle soul and for the most part a very happy and loving little boy.
Logan
Logan just had his 15 month checkup. He is in the 60th percentile for his height and 25th percentile for his weight. I was surprised about the weight because his fat rolls are quite abundant (unlike his brother who has little bird legs and no caboose at all!) He is finally getting more teeth. He got 4 teeth at around 9-10 mos and nothing has come in ever since. Finally the little teeth are breaking through. Its been tough on his as he has a runny nose and is drooling constantly and doesn't want to eat anything hard at all (he even turned down a cookie!) He hangs on the freezer door and begs for Popsicles all day long. I will be happy when the worst part of these two teeth are over .. but I know there are more to come.
Logan will need to see a urologist. He was diagnosed with a hydrocele at birth and it has not cleared up and may even be worse now. The hydrocele causes fluid to fill in the sac around the testicle causing it to become enlarged. It was slightly enlarged as a newborn/infant but it is significantly enlarged now. So we will get that set up and see what comes of that. I hope it will not involve any sort of painful procedure to correct. He doesn't seem to be in any pain, but it can progress to something that is painful and/or uncomfortable if left untreated. He is using all kinds of words now and is picking up language way faster than Brenden ever did. I think its a difference in personality. Logan has always been very expressive and Brenden likes for you to nurture him and ask him what he needs. Logan demands it lol. Some of his latest words : Jacket, school, outside, plate, cup, cereal, mess, more, all done, bye bye, dada, baby, yeah, no, cookie, cracker, surprise, peek a boo, mine, ball, slide, please. He loves to play patty-cake and for me to sing songs to him (always ends with him clapping and saying YAY!) He is running and is trying his hardest to jump (oh yah, that's another word he can say). He continues to try to catch up to his brother's development as fast as he can.
I love that I have 2 totally different little boys. Its just so much fun to experience motherhood for a second time and see everything happening a completely different way. I love their individuality and personalities. I love that they fight one minute and hug and kiss the next.. SUCH a little brother/big brother mentality. I love that Brenden says "yay Logan" when he hears Logan using new words. The other day Logan was waiting by the toaster oven for his waffle (oh, there's another word he can say) and kept saying "beep beep beep" because he knows that's the sound the toaster makes when the waffle is done. Then Brenden says "Yay Logan! Mama, he says "beep beep beep" Yay Logan!" Its so sweet!!
Well with Christmas right around the corner I hope to be back sooner than later with a blog full of Christmas cheer!
