Potty Time!

That's right! Ayden peed in the potty tonight! We bought a new potty last weekend to start working on potty learning. We have no gross expectations of the boys using the potty full time anytime soon (although we won't complain if that happens! ;-) ) They both show different signs that they are ready to at least be introduced to the concept. Ayden is known for peeing on the floor both before and after bath, and any other time he goes without a diaper for more than about 10 seconds - not exaggerating! He is also very obvious about pooping, so we are going to really make an effort to get him to the potty when we see the signs. Ashton seems to be showing some signs of control over his bladder. He often wakes from nap dry and when we go out he pees very little, if at all. Sometimes Ashton will also try to take his diaper off when it is wet or dirty. Sometimes he does it even when it is dry, but normally it is wet when he does this.

ETA: OK, so maybe this was no fluke!?! Day 2 Ayden again peed in the potty! Day 3 Ashton and Ayden both peed in the potty! Yayyyy!

ETA: Day 4 Ayden was dry from the time we took off his overnight diaper until we put him down for nap at 1pm! He peed in the potty 3 times during the day. Ashton peed once too! Day 5 Ayden peed three times again! Day 6 Adyen peed on the potty twice!

Yesterday Jeff and I celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary! Jeff stopped by The Cheesecake Factory to pick us up dinner and, of course, cheesecake! It was soooo good! After the boys went to bed we split a slice of wild blueberry white chocolate cheesecake! It was to die for! He got two pieces, so tonight we split a piece of peanut butter fudge cheesecake! It was very rich! My wonderful husband got me not only the traditional 3 year anniversary gift of leather, but also the modern gift of crystal! I am one lucky girl! What a great 3 years we have had so far! We have been blessed in so many ways and I look forward to celebrating many, many more anniversaries with you, honey! I love you!

(Sorry about the poor quality! This was a badly scanned picture!)

I'm back!!

To blogging!

It has been a long, busy, productive, crazy, eventful, stressful, adventurous, and milestone filled month! And that is only talking about the boys! Not to mention I have been trying to fit in house work, working on my new store, tagging items for the TMOM garage sale, having family in town 3 times, going out of town once, and compiling my TMOM newsletter!

So many exciting things have happened I am sure I won't even remember them all - but, I will give it a shot!

Labor Day weekend Ashton finally made the switch to walking full time! So now, that makes two wild toddlers walking around my house, getting into everything, opening doors and cabinets, emptying drawers, pulling all the books off the shelves.....and I'm loving every minute of it! (Well...almost every minute!)

Although the boys have not added a lot of new words to their vocabulary, they are understanding soooo much language now. We are already to the "spelling" stage with certain words! They follow many commands and point out most body parts and many household items. Ayden's first sentence is "What's that?" and if he says it once a day, he says it 200! Over and over all day long we hear, "What's that?", "What's that?"! Yes, it gets old, but he and Ashton are learning a lot because of it! How many 17 month old's can find the "alarm keypad" in a home? My boys certainly can! We make a point of telling them the real words for things instead of "baby talk".

The boys love their wooden shape sorter lately. The both started out just putting the shapes in the side, basically cheating! Slowly they learned that the circle was blue and it was the easiest to fit in. They would do it over and over and over. Luckily there are two of each shape! :) Now, Adyen is also very proficient at the semicircle and the plus sign. I am not sure what age this is normal, but this seems pretty advanced to me!

Such intense looks!

It takes a lot of concentration!

Ashton began giving high fives to his Daddy before he could even sit up on his own! Now, Ayden has decided to join in on the high five's! I took his hand and made him give me a high five every time he put a shape in the sorter toy. He never would do it on his own though. A couple days later Grandma Kitsmiller was here visiting and he gave her plenty of high five's without hesitation! Guess I was just too boring for him!

Ashton and Ayden were both resistant to clapping until just last weekend! Can you believe that? Our boys were 17 months old when they clapped for the first time!? Better late than never I suppose! It wasn't as if they had never heard or seen clapping. We even made their hands clap more times than I can count! But, again, it just took a grandma to get the job done. Last Friday morning Grandma Adams and Gigi where here. Gigi was playing with Ayden and the sorting toy (again! - he loves it!) and she would clap and cheer every time he got one in. Then, one time he put his hands together once. Of course, as I saw this I mentioned that they were not clapping yet. The next one he got in he clapped twice. Then, the next one he clapped about 5 times! That was all it took! He was clapping the rest of the day. I worked a few hours during the day setting up for the TMOM garage sale and then Jeff and I shopped during the member's only shopping time in the evening. When we got home Grandma and Gigi told us that Ashton had started clapping while we were gone! He, too, is clapping all the time now!

This month we went to the zoo twice, a couple library story times, multiple parks, Incredible Pizza and more! The boys are loving getting out to explore and learn! They still hate shopping though! :(

First time riding in the Sam's double cart!

This is what Ashton did while the lady at Hobby Lobby cut my fabrics!

Ashton petting the sheep.

Ayden petting the sheep.

Ayden playing in the ground covering at a park. It was fine pebbles, like sand, only better!

Ashton in the pebbles.

Checking out their new kitchen!

3..2..1...and the ribbon is cut!

So it is official...my new business venture is well underway! I have started a hyena cart store selling baby and children's items called Unique Baby Boutique! To read more about it and to check out the store for yourself visit these locations:
Unique Baby Boutique on Hyena Cart - www.hyenacart.com/uniquebabyboutique
Unique Baby Boutique Blog - www.uniquebabyboutiqueblog.blogspot.com

It was a poopy kinda day!

Jeff took one of his furlow days from work yesterday and spent some time playing with his boys and working from home. Before nap we each changed a boy before reading to them and putting them in their cribs. When we went to get them up we were greeted with the most wretched smell ever! Ashton had poo on his legs, face, fingers, sheets, crib, floor....it was gross! To make this episode even worse - we had basil pesto chicken for dinner the night before!! Ashton was terribly upset by all of this and was mad at me the entire time I worked to get him cleaned up and changed. As I was cleaning him up I noticed that the leg snap of his diaper was undone! There is no way Ashton can get those snaps undone...daddy was the one that changed Ashton...I will leave it at that! I noticed all evening he still seemed to smell like poo, I just thought it was in my head, until I found a chunk in the back of his hair! UUGGHHH - no wonder!! Before bed we did our normal bath routine (and I made sure to get the poop clump out this time!) and as we finished I called for daddy to come help with his part of the nightly routine. As he was coming Ayden was "passing gas" and laughing at the sound it made while sitting in the bathtub full of water! I, too, laughed at his silly expressions, until....I saw him lean ever so slightly forward and his eyes get a little glassy - that means only one thing for dear Ayden! I told Jeff to hurry and I picked up Ashton and handed him over to daddy before the water got infested! Ayden thought he was missing out on something and quickly jumped up from the water leaving several "patties" behind! As he waded around he proceeded to step on a piece smooching it into the grooved mat placed in the tub to prevent slipping - great even more to clean up! I got him cleaned up and into the nursery to get dressed. This time daddy got the privilege of cleaning up! We sure have had our share of poopy experiences lately! I can't wait until they are potty trained!

I did not take any pictures of our incidents yesterday but these are from one of our other many incidents. These were taken the week of their first birthday. I wasn't even sure who had pooped because it was all over both of them, the floor and the table!

Parks, playdates and, of course, family!

Last week brought about a huge change at the Kitsmiller house! We finally took the leap and went to one nap a day. I have been dreading this and looking forward to it at the same time. I dreaded it because the morning nap was my time to shower and get ready. Also, I didn't really think Ashton was ready for only one nap, and he is not a happy camper without his sleep! I was looking forward to it because it means more time for me to spend with my boys and more freedom to get out and do things! Let me tell you...we have taken full advantage of this time. Last week we went on two walks, had two playdates, went to 3 parks, and attended storytime at the library! We had lots of fun and Ashton did well with the transition. This transition also means the boys will be dropping a nursing session, since they use to nap when they woke up from this nap. As long as they are occupied they don't think about it. But, two days I layed down on the pillow I use for my head while we nurse and they thought it was time, so that nursing session is not quite gone, but almost. Ashton loved all the parks and was his usual independent self. Ayden on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with them and just wanted to be held the whole time! Jeff had a lot to do this weekend so the boys and I loaded up and took a little trip to Stillwater. We saw my sister, Kimberly, and the boys' cousins. They had a great time playing while I got my hair highlighted! Next we went to see my sister Vicke. The boys loved exploring EVERYTHING at her house! We even got a surprise visit from another cousin, Angel, who made a last minute trip through Oklahoma from Texas. Sunday afternoon while the boys napped I went to Mexico Joe's for an OMOMS (Oklahoma Moms of Multiples) meeting. Afterwards we said good bye to everyone and headed home to Daddy!

Ashton loves to climb!

The only thing Ayden liked was the swings. Of couse, only one of the three parks we went to had a swing!

Helping mommy pack!

Ayden and cousin Colton playing cars.

Ashton didn't quite understand the "sit" part of "Sit and Spin"!

Riding the bike at Aunt Vickes!

These boys LOVE their books! They spend about 75% of their playtime each day with books!

My Dan Zanes wannabe's!

Sorry the quality of the pictures is so bad! I have been using my iphone for pics a lot lately and it just isn't the same!

A bomb went off at our house!

Ok...well, truth be told, I never actually found the bomb...but there was certainly an explosion!

During the last week:

Ayden has decided that walking is his preferred method of transportation! He is toddleing everywhere!

Ayden picked up several new words including "uh-oh", "Dayda" (for our dog, Jada), "Dada" for daddy. Maybe a few others that we are still not certain of.

Ayden learned to climb on the couch and now loves to sit on the couch and look through his books.

Ayden began shaking his head yes. He had been doing only no. He doesn't always use the one he means, but he does answer with one if you ask him a question.

Ayden finds shoes or socks and attempts to put them on his feet.

Ayden has seen Ashton using his spoon and decided he should try it, now he is loving feeding himself with a spoon too!

Ashton added the word "ba" for bath and is working on a few others it sounds like.

Ashton can find your nose when asked.

Ashton began shaking yes and no, and seems to understand the difference most of the time.

Ashton could climb on the couch awhile back but just didn't do it often. Now that he sees Ayden doing it he is also up there all the time. The difference is that Ashton is a monkey and doesn't just sit on the couch, he crawls around, stands up and even climbs up and stands on the back looking out the window! Needless to say, we have had a few falls already!

Ashton is also attempting to put on his shoes.

Ashton, my monkey, went head first into the toy box!

Ashton, again, can't keep his feet on the ground...

and, Ayden is loving having his feet on the ground!

Mama's monkey's on the couch

The boys were also much more interested in coloring this time!

Sensory activity or snack time?!

I should have guessed it with my big eaters...we couldn't do a sensory activity with food without it turning into snack time! My preK students use to LOVE to play in shaving cream and so I wanted to duplicate that activity for the boys in a safe way. I decided on cool whip! After putting a big dollop of cool whip in the middle of Ayden's high chair tray he, of course, put his fingers right from the mound to his mouth. After tasting it for half a second he literally lunged for the pile with both hands this time! Oh boy! This was not what I was hoping for! I don't give them sweets so I really hoped that they would play with more than they would eat. I then took his hands and showed him how to "play" with it. As you can imagine, that did not go over well, and he went right back to licking the sweet cream from his fingers! Ashton, on the other hand, did play in his dollop for a whole 5-7 seconds before deciding to use his sense of taste for this "hands-on sensory activity". I also tried to show him that it was not just good for eating but he was less than convinced. They were really mad when they saw me return the container to the kitchen! When there was just some melted sugary cream left on their trays they did play in it for a bit and seemed to enjoy it. Overall this was a good activity, but I still would like to avoid giving them sugar so I will have to return to sugar free pudding or find another alternative for now. Here are some pictures from our activity!

Ashton going in slowly...

mmmmmm....

"mom, you're the best"

Ayden going straight for the mouth...now he's double fisting it!

"mmmm...I agree, mom, you're the best!"

Late vacation update and some exciting news!

We have been home a week, but I am just now getting caught up enough to have time to write about it! We made a (very) last minute decision to leave Thursday night instead of Friday mid morning. We thought the trip would go faster and be easier on the boys this way. It worked out pretty well in the end, and we arrived about 2:00am to Grandma and Grandpa Kitsmillers' house in St. Louis. The boys were slightly confused when we got them out of the car, they thought it was time to play! That first day was a little rough on all of us! Saturday we went to Grant's Farm with Aunt Amy and the grandparents. We got to see a lot of animals and ride a train. Saturday evening it was time for mommy and daddy to have some fun! We met up with a bunch of Jeff's friends from his STL days and has some great adult time! Sunday grandma and I went crafts shopping while daddy and grandpa put some meat on the grill. When we got back we had a great bbq and saw some family friends. After dinner daddy had to leave for the camp that he volunteers for every summer. Tuesday the boys and I had a playdate with a cute little girl just a couple months younger than the boys and her mom who is currently expecting twins! She had tons of questions, so while we chatted the babies had a great time playing with Little People and the new boat ball pit that the grandparents bought. Wednesday the boys and I headed to Warrenton to the outlet mall with grandma and Aunt Amy. We got a lot of great deals! I think the boys fall wardrobe is nearly complete and we got a good start on next summer as well! To top of this great shopping trip we got two big bags of books and two new pairs of walking shoes from the Nike outlet! We were excited when Thursday rolled around because daddy finally got home in the afternoon. Ashton must have been really excited because he took his first steps a couple hours later! This was very exciting for us since our "little explorer" had been resisting walking before today. We relaxed Friday before heading home on Saturday during the morning naptime. The trip went well and we made our traditional half way stop in Lebanon where we ate lunch and went to our second outlet mall of the week! We were happy to finally be home at 6pm. We was so nice to get away from all the responsibilities of home and see good family, good friends and eat some good food!

Waiting in line at Grant's Farm and gettin' some lovin' with Grandma and Grandpa!
Aunt Amy is feeding the camel!
Daddy and Ashton checking out the baby goats at Grants Farm.

The boys were getting caught up on their reading while at grandma's!

Showing off their new kicks - and enjoying the boxes way more! Daddy reading to his boys!

Daddy's shoes make great toys!

Wrestling in their new ball pit!
The box for the ball pit had kept them entertained for a couple days!

Exciting news!

While we were away Ayden cut 4 new teeth, giving him a total of 12!

Ashton has become very interested in feeding himself with a spoon, and he is pretty good at it!

Monday, August 3rd I was in the nursery with the boys putting away clothes and Ashton walked about 5 feet - his furthest distance! He had been taking 4-6 good steps before this. Not to be out done...that evening after dinner Ayden walked about 6 feet! Ayden has been taking what I call "mini baby steps" for a couple weeks now. He usually side stepped and didn't really cover much ground since the steps were so small. But, today he was doing the real deal! This newly acquired skill by both boys has made for lots of laughs, as well as new worries around our house. We are very excited about our boys' new freedom since we have been anxiously awaiting this day for quite awhile!

Saturday, August 8th I took the boys to our first hot air balloon festival! We met Lindsey, Michael and Bailey there and had a great time. We didn't get to see a balloon actually take off because it was too windy, but we did get to see one inflated!

Michael and Ayden
Me and my boys!

The Mayflower balloon was inflating and the others were "glowing"!

"Aunt" Lindsey and Ashton

Lindsey's daughter, "cousin" Bailey, with the boys!

Ashton learned to climb into the toy box this week - he was so proud of himself!

I am exciting to announce that I am in the process of starting a new business venture! I have been trying to work this into my already busy days and hope to have it up and running in a couple weeks! I am not yet prepared to disclose a name or any specifics...but stay tuned because details will be coming shortly! I am very exciting about it and I hope you all will be just as excited and will support me in my new adventure!