Happy December!

That came fast! We've been busy, but I can't quite pin down what we've been busy doing. :)

We did get our Christmas pictures taken - the boys (Jack especially) were in rare form. We were lucky to get one good picture.

Not too many pictures from Thanksgiving. I did get one of Cooper though. Poor guy fell right into the corner of something right before we left for our Thanksgiving lunch.
We put our Christmas decorations up Thanksgiving day. I'm so ready! Of course, by now, the ornaments are totally gone from the bottom 2 feet of the tree (thanks, children) and the stockings are down, but you get the idea. :) I'm afraid I'm many years away from being able to put our glass ornaments on the tree.
Totally random, but Cooper has a new chilled way to watch movies on tv and it makes me giggle because he does it whenever I put in a baby einstein.

Isn't he cute!? (also feel free to note all of the ornaments littered on the floor under the tree, apparently they're more fun to play with than toys)
And, lastly, a little trip down memory lane. I can't believe this was our family just one year ago. Sigh, time flies.

Hope you all have a very merry Christmas! I'm looking forward to fun family times - hope to have some great pictures to share! :

random update w/pics and grossology

Long time no update. But, nothing truly exciting has happened. Which I'm thinking is a good thing. :) I have been taking pictures - so I'll share some of those.

We've stayed home more often than usual recently because we've had some random fevers the last few weeks. What to do on boring days?

Find something to keep yourself occupied. . . We went to the Mattel store one day with a friend and the boys made out pretty well. You can never have enough cars, right? Well, you can, but these were such a bargain I couldn't pass them up. I think I like cars just as much as the boys.
Jack in his first tie. :) He looks pretty thrilled with it, right?
Ben and Cooper are kinda cute, too.
We also went to Ikea to get Jack a new bed. He and Josh sharing a room is not working out so fantastically. Josh needs a lot more sleep than he's getting and the best way to get him to go to bed earlier is to put he and Jack in separate rooms. Jack loves his new bed! We're going to repaint the room, too. I think we're going to go with orange on top, navy blue on the bottom. And, some vintage tin wall stuff, too. I think it's gonna be pretty cool. :)Mom and Aunt Valerie took Jack and Josh to Grossology over the weekend. It looks like they had a great time.
In a stomach. . .
Riveted by a dissection. . .
I think Jack thinks he's seeing his actual stomach. lol He would pull the lever to build up pressure to create a burp. . .Josh could not believe they'd make a display so rude and crude. . .

We're looking forward to a fun Thanksgiving at Nana and Big Tom's. Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving!

fall pictures and other odds and ends

Wow. I can't believe the first whole week of November is over! This is the time of year that just flies by. The weather has been gorgeous and the kids are loving playing outside. I'm really getting serious about getting that outdoor play structure in late winter - just in time for the weather to get nice again. You know, assuming it ever really gets 'winter' cold here. :)
We had pictures with out very favorite photographer last week. I wanted some cute fall pics and I aways love the pictures that Chera gets. Here's our session - I'm so happy with the pictures!
http://chera25.com/galleries/103109Crystal/
Our Christmas pictures are only a few weeks away. I can't wait!
In other news, Mimi and Grandpa went to Mexico for a week on vacation. They are the most generous of grandparents - but the only way I can think to describe this pic is:
Mimi and Grandpa went to Mexico for a week and all we got were these t-shirts. (And, Mimi and Grandpa didn't even go to Cancun - these are airport t-shirts. lol)
We did also get some bobble head turtles - they are very cute, and Josh is a big fan (Josh loves anything animal). The poor blue one already had an incident though and will forever be special. But, we love him even more for it. :)

Over the weekend I bought another alligator push toy and the boys took them outside to push them around. It's so cute - but totally loud and obnoxious (the alligator mouths open and shut as you push it). I can't imagine the neighbors are very impressed.


Oh, and I don't have great pics of this, but it's too funny so I had to share. At Nana's we often go outside and take a walk around the cul-de-sac. Jack and Josh love to push giant dump trucks on the walk (of course, right?). After a block of walking they started talking about a frog in the dump truck. Sure enough, there was a frog in the dump truck's cab. And he did not want out, so he rode the whole way in the truck. It was hilarious. This pic is bad because it's from my phone, but it gives you an idea of the poor frogs predicament.
Not much else going on. Just usual pre-holiday activities. Mimi and Aunt Valerie did take Jack and Josh to the zoo over the weekend, hopefully I'll have pics to share of that soon.

I hope you all are enjoying this special time of year!

Halloween 2009

Yesterday we went to a Halloween Party at Mimi's office - it was perfect for the boys. Low key, geared toward young kids, and not too crowded.

Jack's first self-chosen prize - and he loves it.
Josh figured that an unattended candy bucket = unlimited candy opportunity.

Cooper spent most of his party time hanging with Grandpa.

Ben, the strong man.

Jack helping Ben pick a good prize.
Mimi enticing Cooper with some good old fashioned sugar in the form of cotton candy.

Ben really got into the games.

After that party we went to a local trick or treat down main street event. Just Jack and Josh went - Ben and Cooper were tuckered out from their 18 month shots and skipping their naps. They passed out seconds after being put in their cribs.

It was COLD out there! And kind of crowded. But, Jack and Josh enjoyed themselves.
As far as actual Halloween Day - we spent some time at Mimi's then went home for short naps before pictures with our favorite photographer. I wanted some cute pics to put in Thanksgiving cards. I'm hoping they came out well. Ben has such stranger anxiety lately that it makes getting good pictures of him a challenge. I took a few pictures of them at home tonight, but don't want to spoil the surprise of their cool shirts in the pictures ('cause I'm sure you're all on pins and needles wondering what they were wearing). Anyway, I miscalculated times tonight and we missed the trick or treating event we had planned on going to. So, Mimi and I took Jack and Josh to Toys R Us to pick a toy instead of trick or treating. It was really a win - win. They got a cool toy, and I got to be home and ready for bed by 9:00. It's all good. :)

backpacks, well baby check-ups, and a new ornament!

Today Ben and Cooper went to the doctor for their 18 month well baby check-up! Things are good! :) The numbers:

Ben: 26 lb 7 1/2 oz (60%ile) and 33 3/4" (85%ile)

Cooper: 22 lb 12 oz (10%ile) and 33 1/2" (80%ile)

And, one shot each. They handled it okay - and to compensate them we went to Target. Woohoo! Ben's been VERY into wearing a backpack (even though he never goes anywhere with one, he just walks around the house with it on). I found some cute ones and couldn't resist (Ben's is blue, Cooper's brown).

Nana and Aunt Marcy went to a craft fair and got us the cutest ornament! Thank you!

trip to the arboretum

Trey, Mimi, Aunt Valerie, and I took the boys to the Dallas Arboretum to experience "Autumn at the Arboretum and The Great Pumpkin Festival" It was fun - we could not have asked for better weather! It was cloudy and breezy and around 70 degrees. Awesome!
Basically the best group shot of the lot. These boys do not enjoy sitting still and smiling at the camera!
Dude, check out that waterfall.
Jack and Ben checking out the koi.

Getting checked out by the koi. Look at the size of that guy!Cooper picking out pumpkins.
Ben playing ball with said pumpkins.

Aww, Cooper. So sweet and content.

Josh playing hop scotch on pumpkins.

Whoops - took a little spill! It's okay folks, he was alright.

Ben figured out early on that sitting = jelly bean. He would sit for a second, get up, grab a jelly bean, go back and sit down to pose and eat it. Made for easy pictures - but not smiling pictures, more like chewing pictures. Not quite what we were going for, but whatever. lol
Josh. He's just so Josh - and we love him for it! Jack and Josh suffering from good old day syndrome. The stroller was not quite as awesome as they remembered it to be.

Aww, it's like they love each other!

As demonstrated with this first picture, group photos were pretty much a joke - usually one or two kid(s) would look passable but the other(s) would be doing something totally un-cute/weird/non-photogenic. Mimi took her camera too, and I think she got some good pix - when I get those I'll share them too. :)

Right now, I've got to go to bed. Unlike our big playdate yesterday, the Arboretum did not inspire long naps this afternoon and I am hurtin. I am so ready for sleep!

Hope everyone has a great last week in October - November is right around the corner! Isn't that crazy!?

Halloween Playdate

Trey, Mimi, and I took the boys to a nearby park for a Halloween Playdate with a local mom group. It was fun - and definitely necessary to have additional adult supervision. Ben is just a wildman when he's enjoying the great outdoors. His free roaming spirit knows no bounds. And, he's pretty scary on playgound equipment, too. lol
I'll just put up some pictures - they're kind of self-explanatory. :)

Sharing a cake ball, now that's brotherly love.

That's about it. Perhaps the best part of the playdate was the awesome 30 minute nap we all got to enjoy when we got home. A few hours later, a few of them are still out. It's so quiet. Time for mama to sneak some chocolate before the boys take inventory of their treats. ;)