For Sure...

Things our boys know for sure:

-All dogs are called Katy

-All trucks, cars, and vans are all commonly known as "big truck"

-Milk makes the world go round

-The best food ever is pineapple

-When you hand something to someone else you say "nee no" (thank you)

-All puppets or unknown animals are known as "elmo"

-We still don't understand why we have to hold still for diaper changes

-The best time to drink water is in the bath tub

-Hitting our heads on objects is still hysterically funny

-Sleep as little as possible as to not miss anything fun

-Bubbles are wonderful

And here is a funny picture of Katy...lately she has grown fond of getting onto the boys' little table outside to have a better view into the kitchen. She looks gigantic and would certainly scare any intruder.

Grocery Store

I find it humorous how long it takes us to get out of the door these days. Take this morning as an example.
0830: "Alright boys, let's get ready to go to the store."
Go find shorts for them to wear (they are already in shirts and diapers)
Go brush my teeth
Chase J down to put his shorts on and discover he just pooped.
Go find clean diaper
Chase W down to put on his shorts
Help W get truck out of his crib
Chase J down to change his diaper
Diaper and shorts for J-done
Tell J to say bye bye to the magazine and big truck he is holding
Get purse, keys, bags, and coupons
Pick J up to carry him to the car and strap him in. As I pick him up we both look down...he doesn't have shorts on anymore. They fell right off.
Go get J a belt. Put shorts AND belt on.
Tell J to say bye bye to the magazine...again
Load J in the car
Return to house to get W...load him in the car
Carry their shoes out to the car to put them on in the car
Realize I grabbed 2 right shoes for J
Return to house to get the left shoe
Return to house to get purse and bags
0915: Depart for store
It makes me laugh.

We get to the store to realize there are no parking spots and a line out the door. A case lot sale just started and the line went all the way through the produce section, across the entire back aisle of the store...then into the warehouse. Forget that! So the boys and I were almost the only ones there shopping in the store itself. We are in the last aisle looking at frozen food and a lady comes up to me and slyly hands me an envelope and tells me "Please use this for your shopping trip today."
I said thank you assuming it was an envelope full of good coupons but it was a voucher for $25 off my grocery bill! Yahhoo! I should always look like a poor, disorganized, and sleep-deprived mom if people are just going to hand me free stuff.
=)

W*A*W

What*A*Week

The whole "crib climbing" debacle has become a big problem. I guess I was enjoying the last couple of months of good naps too much. As soon as I get used to a routine...BAM..BOOM BINGA......something changes. I guess it is God's way of keeping me on my toes. Today was the first day since Sunday that both boys took a nap at the same time and for more than a few minutes. I am fairly certain that W napped on the floor of the bedroom but after I heard *quiet*, I wasn't about to open the door and risk the door bumping into him and waking him up.

It started on Monday with them both getting out of their cribs as soon as I put them down for their naps. I anticipated having to put them back in their cribs maybe once or twice before they went to sleep...not 10 or 12 times! I even had to bust out with some spanking. And you know what? They just laughed! They were so delirious with their newfound independence that they just giggled the whole time. They didn't even realize that I was angry and very frustrated. I removed the rocking chair from their room thinking that would slow them down from climbing out of their crib but it didn't matter one bit. They popped right back out. I finally shut the door and let them tire themselves out. I heard them pulling out all of the contents of their closets. After an hour of destruction they started banging on the door and whining. So I put them back in their cribs one more time and they finally went to sleep. This all started at noon...1145 to be exact....and they finally went to sleep (albeit for 30 minutes) at 2pm.

And the struggles have continued since. Not so much at night, just for their naptime. W has also figured out how to turn the door knob to get out of the room...he was pretty proud of himself for figuring that out. Good thing that there is a lock on the outside of their bedroom door already.

They (especially W) have also been fighting me when we go out in public. I normally just put them in their stroller when I run errands but sometimes (if it is a quick stop) I will carry one and the other will hold my hand. So much for that. I think that they think: No stroller=free access to run rampant wherever I choose!

I had to make a quick exchange at CVS and it was crazy. They both ran in different directions. W grabbed a whole bunch of magazines and threw them on the ground while J was knocking large bottles of mouthwash off the shelves. Then I decided I had to pick W up. He is now a champion at straightening his body or arching his back so it makes it very hard to hold him. So I am struggling to hold him with both arms and J decides it is time to be chased and starts running down the makeup aisles giggling. Someone who worked there had to point out to me where he was. So we hightailed it out of there. I decided that the exchange was not that important.

The little rascals:

Perspective

I've been wanting to get a picture of the boys or one of the boys standing next to Katy to show their height in comparison to hers.

Here is the best I could get. They just all move to fast and just don't sit still for any length of time....unless they all see a squirrel which is what they are looking at while I took this pic.

Crib Climber

I just put the boys down for a nap and started to clean the kitchen. I waited. Waited to hear a thump on the ground, a knock on the door, something to clue me in that W was out of his crib. Geoff said that when he went to get them this morning W was on the floor playing with his trucks and J was still trying to sleep.

I heard J's sleepy cry meaning he was trying to go to sleep. Poor guy is battling a cold and almost fell asleep eating his lunch...but I also heard some suspicious giggling.

I slowly opened the door a crack to see W's crib e.m.p.t.y. I opened the door further and found him straddling J's back giggling and trying to squish him while J was trying to go to sleep! So not only did he climb out of his crib...he then climbed into J's crib to harrass him! Little stinker!

Time to put the video monitor back up. We knew we would need it again soon.

Escapee

It was bound to happen. Today when I went into the boys' room after their naps, I found W straddling and balancing on the top of his crib railing:.

..and J dangling both legs off the top of his crib railing:

I was going to post a poll on the blog asking for guesses on how long it will take them to get out of their crib.

Well, they beat me to it. If I was a betting woman, I would have put the money on J escaping first. Especially since he has the soft rocking chair nearby to land on. But it was W.

We had put them down for bed and they were fussing a little bit. I was in the laundry room thinking that their cries seem so much louder than normal. I went into the living room and told Geoff that I was certain that one of our children was standing just on the other side of their door. Sure enough, as we walked down the hall, we could hear the door know jiggling. Not only had W somehow got out of his crib (he had to have fallen in the process) but he then took the time to empty the contents of his big truck (large dump truck loaded up with toys and books) into J's crib! So J is standing in his crib looking awfully confused and surrounded by trucks, books, rocks, etc.

Geoff blamed it on me taking pictures of them climbing on their railings this afternoon, but it was bound to happen sooner or later.

Here is how J climbs into the crib:

He pretty much just dives in....

Congrats Justin and Nicole!

We just returned from attending my cousin Justin's wedding in Pennsylvania. It was amazing. We flew there so it was also the boys' first airplane ride(s). We were in the very last row for the first flight so we didn't have a window...this made it a little challenging bc we were hoping the window would be a good distraction. The boys fell asleep during our descent so they basically didn't get a nap in that day. But they did better on the second plane ride. W stayed on my lap the entire time with me talking to the man next to me. All W had was a little truck and he did good the entire 2+ hours! I couldn't believe it. J sat in the first row with Geoff and did well too. Geoff said he was very distracted by looking at the window.
Me and W at the beginning of the flight:

W by the end of the flight:

Geoff and J at the beginning:

At the end:

The next morning we went to the Pittsburgh zoo:

Looking at a very large incredible gorilla. We even got to see it pound his chest:

Geoff and W looking at elephants:

J and Uncle PJ:

We went to a Trolley museum and got a ride on an old trolley. They were having a wedding in this trolley later that afternoon:

As for the wedding we attended, the bride Nicole was beautiful and my cousin Justin looked very handsome. They completed their vows in a tent outside the hotel and then had the reception followed immediately after. The food was incredible. Station after station of fruits, vegetables, cheeses, and then fondue stations with chocolate fountains and cake, cookies, pretzels, and fruit...and this was just the hor'dourves! After the fabulous dinner there was wedding cake and they filled the stations in the hallway with homemade cookies and coffee. I was full just after the hor'dourves! The flowers were amazing. The band was amazing. The best band I have ever seen at a wedding reception. They had at least 12 members, a ton of instruments and I think every member could sing. They could perform anything and were really great about getting everyone on the dance floor. Rumor has it that the same band was performing at the Playboy mansion the next day. Crazy!

The boys did great on the trip. They didn't sleep that great at night until the last night we were there. Since they missed two days of naps in a row we made sure we were in the room on time for the nap on the wedding day and they slept for 3 hours. They enjoyed playing with the pillows in the hotel room:

This picture is J in the pillows although to me he looks very much like W here:

Papap brought the boys Steeler jerseys:

It was so nice seeing my extended family on my dad's side. Geoff got to meet a lot of them for the first time. Here are the boys playing around in the yard the day after we got home: