Update

The boys are still recuperating but doing much better. The doctor saw J right away Friday morning and said he was breathing better. He was happy to see him moving around and not just lying on the exam table. He did say that if he hadn't seen improvement, he would have admitted him to the hospital! I guess he was pretty concerned.
We are continuing breathing treatments every six hours and trying to give him oral steroids to reduce the inflammation in his lungs. Unfortunately he threw up both doses we tried to give him on Friday. Between antibiotics, cough medicine, steroids, and breathing treatments, it is hard to keep track of everything!

Here is J last Tuesday at the drool-and-runny nose-phase of the cold...check out that shirt! I think we went through 3-4 shirts for both boys that day:

"I caan't breathe through me nose!" (OK, he didn't ACTUALLY say that, but it looks like that is what W would say if he could)

Still playing with their trucks:

My brother came for a visit this past weekend and he was a big help with the boys. Here he is with J during a treatment:

We needed some fresh air on Thursday so we walked through the woods behind our house. Here is J pointing at an airplane, or a tree, or the air...he just likes to point.

At sunset:

Katy and Bear running toward the boys...can you see W trying to brace himself? They get knocked down often by our 65+ lb dogs!

W in his favorite pose....he is watching and cheering on the dogs here:

Uncle PJ with his nephews:

Here is PJ walking back home with the boys at sunset:

Drinking their milk with their daddy:

The guys on football Sunday. TOUCHDOWN!!!

I went to a Sara Evans concert this weekend and it was SO good (great idea Tracy)! Sara Evans can sing her tail off. I knew almost every song she sang (I didn't even own any of her CDs before the show). Her two sisters are the back-up singers, her brother is on guitar and she has another sister in the crew...

With my friends Tracy and Kendre before the show:

We showed our house again yesterday (cross your fingers we seal the deal) and just relaxed today...we needed the long weekend.

Poor Little Guys

We have two sick guys right now...they have had colds all week but J woke this morning feeling much worse. He was struggling to breathe and our pediatrician said he has pneumonia!! W has an ear infection and a bad cold. W was still acting mostly like himself this morning but J was lethargic and just laying around. If we picked him up he would just lay against us and not hold his head up.

So he had a breathing treatment and an injection of antibiotics this morning and we have to continue the breathing treatments every 4 hours (even through the night) until he sees the doctor again tomorrow.

Hopefully they will be feeling better very soon......

Happy Halloween

J on Halloween night

We took the boys to a party at a friend's house on Halloween...they loved it because the house was a virtual playhouse. Lots of toys...in fact, J must have made a mental note of the toys when we walked in the door because he remembered exactly where they were. We got them dinner in the kitchen, walked through a big screened-in porch to a big backyard with a pool and a giant playhouse, and he immediately walked to the screen door, opened it and made a beeline for the front of the house. No stopping him! W sat with me and ate some grapes and chicken nuggets (his first time). We had to leave before the hayride or the trunk or treating. We didn't get to the party until late so we had to go back home to get them in bed by eight. This is late considering their bedtime is 7-ish. It was fun...we got there right as it turned dark; luckily we managed to get a couple of pictures of the lil' scarecrows! *Did you know that you can click on any photos for a closer view....?

W all dressed up for the Halloween party:

Under a pretty moss tree downtown

You know how sometimes you just don't notice something until you see it in a picture? Well, I had that moment when I looked at W in the following pictures. He looks so much like a BOY. Where is my BABY? And where did all that hair come from?


I took the next pictures on Halloween morning after we returned from an early morning walk. Hence the crazy pajamas! We couldn't find matching pajamas pieces the night before so J is wearing the result of whatever we could find.
Wyatt acting silly...

Practicing stepping up and down on the mat...

J figured out how to get in and out of the wagon...click the pic to get a better view of his face. He has quite the determined look on his face.

Hmmmm....

Playing at the front door....

So Happy Halloween everyone! I can't wait to see all of your kiddos costumes!

Pumpkins in the pumpkins....

We went to our church's pumpkin patch today and we had to get some pictures of the boys in all those pumpkins!




All right, change gears, from the pumpkins to the beach! We loved having our dear Indiana friends come for a visit.

This is me and Claudia. My wonderful friend and my roommate all four years at Purdue. Love that girl! Well Claudia, her husband and their kiddos came into town for a visit....for the third annual visit in fact. I guess it isn't fair that they have made all three trips to visit us so we told them that we will plan a trip to Indiana next fall...just wanted to put that out there. It seems more official when it is written down. =)

We had so much fun. We went to the beach, went for walks, visited, and played cards. They kept us up late playing cards twice. Midnight. VERY late when we have to get up at 5-ish. But totally worth it. Thank goodness for Jim and I (we were partners) that they had to leave just when Claudia got really good at the card game 500. Thanks for coming to see us guys!

Here we are with our boys!

Claudia with the twins who are wrestling over the sunscreen bottle:

J enjoying the beach and his shadow...

J is sooo tired here after the beach getting changed before going home.. he has the "sleepy stare" going on

Jim playing with the kids

Hey big guy!

And for the boys...isn't it a rule that a baby officially becomes a BOY when they skin their knee? Congrats J on your first skinned knee.

In fact, I think he had four pretty decent head boo boos within a two-hour time span today. He fell and scratched his cheek at the pumpkin patch. Then he had three more spills (one will leave a good bruise on his forehead). He is more curious and becoming more of an explorer everyday. I heard him starting to yell the other day and he was standing in our coffee table/toy chest (they just learned to open it) and W was trying to shut the lid on him!

Speaking of W, here he is looking at a book. He is so funny...he makes some great truck sounds and still adores his Handle Hauler trucks. He is quite the walker and just as curious as J...maybe a little more cautious though..he hasn't had quite the number of spills so far.

We are rapidly approaching the "terrific twos"...they are both wanting to throw everything and throw big fits in their high chairs and launch all the food all over the room. I know this is normal (at least I read this is normal) but if anyone has any tips for getting through this joyous phase...please let us know!

All right. Two blog posts today. Check back with us on Tuesday or Wednesday.

HAPPY 2nd Birthday!!

Happy 2nd Birthday to our nephew!
Hope you enjoyed your "Cars" goodies and we will see you in December!

Oh My Pumpkin!!!!

We went to a nearby farm for what else? Pumpkins, cider, hay rides, and to see farm animals of course! We saw pigs, horses, ducks, and hens. The boys were indifferent to the animals. They just looked at them and were distracted by the gnats swarming around their faces. We went last weekend and it was still warm and humid which made the bugs a little worse. The farm was beautiful though and the owners were really nice people. The had the most beautiful tree in the middle of the farm with a big wooden swing hanging from it. They had wagons for kids and other toys for big kids too:

Here is the amazing tree:



We went with some friends of ours - here is Brittany, Caleb, and their sweet baby boy:

We dressed the boys up in their scarecrow costumes and went to a little Halloween festival. A festival featuring deep-fried oreos no less. We do live in the south I guess. The boys just liked seeing all the kids (pirates and princesses were the most popular costumes by far), and practicing walking in their shoes. We didn't even bring the stroller so we had quite sore arms the next day from carrying these guys around.

Me and the little scarecrow...

J about to see if he can clear the pavement drop-off...he did...no spills

Our sweet scarecrow...hey W!

W walking with daddy through the peek-a-boo trail. J took a box of dots and W carried a reeses peanut butter cup (daddy's choice) through the trail.

Earlier that day we had a wonderful visit with some friends of ours who were in town for a wedding. The boys warmed up to them right away and here are a couple of pictures.
Here is Art with Jack and Wyatt trying to get to the grapes:

J and Johnida:

The whole crew-sorry Art, you did get blogged!

Thanks for stopping by! We really enjoyed seeing you both!

Laugh 'till you fall down....

Have you ever laughed so hard you fell down? J did yesterday. He has the cutest laugh and he just bursts with giddiness and happiness when he laughs. He has been laughing a lot with his brother this week. At some pretty silly things. Sometimes they just get so tickled by something so....odd.

For example, Monday they couldn't stop laughing because they were throwing paper. See, I told you...odd. If you drop a piece of paper or a napkin and it sort of floats for a second it kills them. I was filing and shredding paperwork in our office/playroom and they busted up so much at the flying paper. I caught the end of it in a video--see it under the video section on the right titled "office craziness". So, J laughed so hard at one point that he lost his balance and fell back on his head which made him and W laugh even harder. It was too much...SO funny!

And more. W discovered a few weeks ago that blowing into a straw is so much fun. We taped him doing it a month or so ago and it is really funny. I just got around to posting it...you have to see it. Again, look for it under videos....he cracks himself up when he blows bubbles.

And more. They have been chasing each other around our big chair in the living room - tons of laughter...and not to be forgotten, throwing a baby hangar (I know-dangerous...they are doing the throwing...not me) yields big belly laughs from these guys. So does squeezing their thighs while they are in their high chairs, biting their triceps, tickling under their chin, my hair in their face, big fake coughing, pretending to drop them...all funny.

And if you really want a reaction out of these guys- just show them a balloon. We were driving home today and I stopped at a light. J started flapping his arms up and down and shouting in a shaky voice "ba ba ba ba ba!!!" I looked over and their were big balloons all around a car dealership. I wouldn't have even noticed them otherwise. While we were at the store, they both were shouting "baawwwllll!" and pointing to the ceiling...sure enough, big paper pumpkins and other round decorations hanging down. I also wouldn't have noticed them otherwise.

One more thing, J was still giggling before dinner while playing with big plastic bowls. And W was hungry and wanting dinner. Check out the third and final video called Pre-Dinner Fun....and see one being silly and one being feisty...notice how W will bend over, stick out his neck and moan (he looks like a dinosaur)) when he wants something.

I hope you watch the videos so you will laugh today too.

Here is a quick pic of the boy's first car ride facing forward...we were on our way to church last Sunday.