Happy Thanksgiving!

We are thankful this year for so much! We are thankful for a great new job for Jeff. We are thankful for two happy, healthy toddlers. We are thankful for our own health. We are thankful that we have a beautiful home (even if we aren't living in it right now!). We are thankful for the GREAT families that we both come from who continue to love and support us. This year we are also thankful just to spend the weekend together! It has been four weeks since Ashton, Ayden and I last saw Jeff! As I write this he is about an hour away! We have a great weekend filled with not much but eating and making up for lost time together! I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and remember everything you have to be thankful for as well!

"Home"

Tomorrow will be a week since the boys and I moved in with my parents. It has been quite an adjustment for ALL of us! We all have different routines, different schedules and different tv shows. We are all use to our space and keeping our homes the way we like them. Now...we are all trying to make those things mesh under one roof. The boys have adjusted really well and have continued to sleep through the night, only waking up a little earlier than usual. Naps are also still going well. Their eating has been a little less predictable though. We did use this as an opportunity to drop their after nap nursing session and that has also gone great. They are now only nursing when they wake up in the morning and before they go to sleep at night. We went to a Holiday Market/craft show on Saturday morning and shopping in the afternoon, church on Sunday morning, the post office on Monday and to the library for story time on Tuesday. Today we just stayed home and rested while the grandparents and Gigi went to Joplin for the day.
Jeff has been gone for two and a half weeks now. It looks like it will be another week before we see him. He will be coming home for Thanksgiving and we will be going back to our house for a few days since it has not sold yet. I have been blowing the boys kisses and telling them that they are from Daddy and now they are blowing kisses back! It is SOOOOO cute! I got a picture of Ayden doing it this week but I don't have the ability to upload pictures right now. I will have plenty of pictures to share after next week!

Going it alone...

Jeff has been gone for 3.5 days and we have had our ups and downs, but we are making it! Grandma and GiGi made a last minute decision to come to town the day before their flight to Florida for my cousins wedding. It was nice to have them here, even though it wasn't for long. My mom and I took the boys to what was probably my last TMOM (Tulsa Mothers of Multiples) meeting. It was sad to leave the friends, with whom I had so much in common, that I have made during past 20 months.

This morning as Grandma and GiGi tried to leave for the airport Ayden had a huge meltdown and ONLY wanted GiGi! He put on quite the show, which continued after they had pulled out of the driveway! At least he will get to see plenty of her in the coming weeks! :) After they left I had to take out the trash (since the "man of the house" is not here to do his chores!). I wanted to do it before they left, but I didn't get to it. The boys run out of the house after me if I walk out, so I had to be creative. I had to open the overhead garage door and then lock the house door to the garage as well as the front door. I had to put up the baby gate to block the kitchen. I left the house through the kitchen patio door with the trash bags from inside. I put them in the can and put it on the curb in front of the house. Then I gathered all the boxes of trash (there is so much of that when moving!) and took them to the street. As I was gathering the garage trash I heard a band on the garage door. It sounded like the boys had opened the coat closet door and slammed it into the garage door - well, I figured, there were worse things they could be getting into! After the trash was all at the curb I had to go back through the gate and into the house from the side. When I got inside I was headed to the garage to shut the overhead door when I found this...

I had left a box of Cheez-It's on the table and they had pulled it down! I guess they thought they needed a mid-morning snack today! I forget how tall they are getting sometimes! They have also been having a ball tearing up all the newspaper I have out to pack with!

My hat goes off to all the single parents out there! Yes, I am used to taking care of the boys all day, but it is extra exhausting to do it into the evening everyday as well! I won't go into details about this evenings grocery trip to Wal-Mart, but I was pretty ticked when what should have been a 30 minute trip turned into over an hour all because I had a moron for a cashier! There was a short line and it took me 30 minutes to get through the line and get a few groceries! AGGGHHHH! So frustrating! I love the prices, look, layout, etc. of that Wal-Mart, but they have a lot of things that really upset me too. Jeff told me to not to go back there and I said I wouldn't - not because of what happened, but because I shouldn't need to go again before we move! :)

I have been trying to do all the packing while the boys are napping or at night when they are in bed. I don't think they will understand, but I also don't want them to stress. I did have to do some work in their closet so I did that yesterday morning. They had a lot of fun watching me and playing with the boxes. Ashton pushed a large empty box around the house before bringing it to their room. Ashton and Ayden then proceeded to fill the box with everything laying on their floor. I only wish they picked up that well when it is time to clean up the toys!

There was a little more in the box - before I got around to taking the picture they took a few things back out!

Brotherly Love

After the fighting I have been refereeing for the past few weeks I finally got a slight reprieve today! While I was cooking dinner and talking to daddy on the phone in the kitchen, Ashton and Ayden were having a grand time tearing up the Sunday paper on the dining room floor. I was watching them have a giggling good time when all of a sudden Ayden went right up to Ashton and wrapped his arms around Ashton and gave him the sweetest bear hug I have EVER seen! If this wasn't enough to melt my heart, he did it again a couple seconds later. But, this time he added "a little sugar on top" and even nuzzled his head against Ashton's as he hugged him! OH, MY! I teared up with happiness, joy, and pride at the site of my sweet boys embracing in their first hug! It was bittersweet to have to relay the events over the phone to daddy though! :(

Just to see if it was a fluke thing I asked Ayden to give Ashton a hug later that evening after dinner...and he did! This time I was prepared and got a few pictures, though nothing as cute as those first hugs in the dining room amongst a confetti of newspaper sheddings. I then asked Ashton to give Ayden a hug...and again, to my surprise, he did it! I am going to bed a very proud mama tonight!

Ashton

Ayden (and Lilo)

Ayden hugging Ayden

I LOVE it when he nuzzles!

Ashton hugging Ayden - didn't get the best picture of this one

A weekend of Tricks and Treats (and Tears)!

Our Halloween weekend started off with a trip to the Corn Maize on Saturday morning! We dressed the boys up in their costumes and headed out in the beautiful fall weather. It was a beautiful day, in fact, Jeff and I wished that we had left our sweatshirts in the car! We started out in the "corn box". This was basically a huge sand box filled with dried corn. The boys LOVED it, they loved it so much we had to go back a second time before we left! Next, we made our way through part of the corn maize. I say part, not because we didn't know how to find our way out, but because it was just WAY too muddy! After a month of rain and probably hundred's of people trampling through it, that maize could have been renamed "Corn Muddy"! So, we decided to move on to the Cow Train! This was a four wheeler that was pulling about 5 barrel cars attached to one another and painted to look like cows. We knew the boys wouldn't do it by themselves so we asked if we could ride along. That was easier said than done...those barrels and seats were definitely made for children! But, we both were able to fit in one with a boy on our lap. The Cow Train was then pulled through another mini corn maize. Ashton and Ayden both love to move so this was a hit! We then took a water break as we waited for our turn to go on the hayride! We all enjoyed a hayride with great narration from a funny farmer driving the tractor. He kinda' reminded me of my grandpa, which made me enjoy the ride even more! Next we decided to check out the pumpkins and the goats. Ayden, surprisingly, was really excited by the goats. Both boys liked looking at the pumpkins and throwing them around! We bought a couple pumpkins and made one last trip into the corn box. By this time it was 12:30pm and we had to get our little tots home for lunch and a much needed nap! They usually go down for a nap at 1pm, but it was 2pm today. Since we were already suppose to "fall back" an hour tonight anyway we decided to just start that schedule then! That evening we ate dinner and got dressed again for some neighborhood trick or treating! This was Ashton and Ayden's first time to t.o.t. and they weren't sure what this was all about. They loved going up to all the houses and seeing people. They were a great hit and everyone was poking their heads out to see our little Thing 1 and Thing 2! But, the candy thing meant nothing to them, especially since they have never even eaten any candy! It was just another toy to play with and throw on the ground! We came back home and continued to pass out candy to the other neighborhood kids as they made their rounds. In order to avoid an extra early wake up call from the boys we stuck with the upcoming time change and put them to bed about an hour late. It worked out well because they woke up at 8am just like usual! Thank goodness...this mama needs all the sleep she can get!

Daddy and Ayden on the water break

Ashton and Mommy on the hayride

Ashton says "hmmm....."

The corn box

Daddy and Ashton on the Cow Train

Time to Trick or Treat!

My little Thing 1 and Thing 2 had a great Halloween!

Sunday Jeff spent the morning getting his things packed up and loading up his car to head for St. Louis. He starts his new job there tomorrow. Although we have been talking about and preparing for this time for awhile now, it was harder on us than we anticipated. After daddy left we ate some lunch and I put the boys down for an early nap. I put them down early so that they could get up a little early and once more get dressed in their costumes for a Birthday/costume party. Caleb, who use to be our neighbor, is turning 4 this week and we were invited to a great Halloween themed party to celebrate. I was really excited to go and see our much beloved, and missed former neighbors! Unfortunately, for me, it turned out to be very stressful! The home the party was held at was beautiful...which translates to...not toddler proof! There were Halloween decorations, figurines, breakables, candy, ceramic tile stairs, an unfenced swimming pool,etc....all over the place! It was so hard trying to keep up with both of them by myself. Ashton almost did a face plant down 2 ceramic tile steps into a ceramic tile floor! I grabbed his arm just as he was falling! They understand steps no problem, but it is hard to see the steps coming when you are going down, especially when it is just two steps. I needed a breather from all the indoor hazards, so I took them outside, into the yard. Of course, they didn't stay there. Of course, they went in different directions. Of course, I followed the wrong boy. I don't even remember what it was I saw that I thought Ayden was going to get into, but I went after him. As I got his hand and started to walk towards Ashton, I see him trip and fall. It looked like he just went down onto his hands and knees...no big deal! He started to whine and I said "I'm coming, go ahead and stand up." As I get there I see that he, of course, has ended up in a little decorative pond! I stand him up and pull off his cold, wet pants. Luckily, just his hands and knees/shines ended up in the water. The ends of his sleeves were a little wet but he was able to leave this shirt/onesie and his shoes on. So, Ashton had to finish out the party showing off his cute, white, chicken legs! After this Caleb's dad took us on a little hayride around the yard. Shortly after this I decided it was time to go home! Now, I am home and sore and ready to go to bed! It was a fun, exciting and sad weekend, and now that it is over I have to get serious about packing!

(After reading about this 1 hour and 15 minute experience you can

understand why I have no pictures!)