Holidays, Homes and a 'Hole Lotta' Changes!

Things have been so crazy with us lately I have been finding it difficult to find time (or a free computer) to update our blog or upload pictures! SOOO...this might be a bit of a lengthy update - get comfortable!

Holidays-

I drove with the boys from Grove to St. Louis the weekend before Christmas to spend some time with Daddy and celebrate Christmas with the Kitsmiller family. We had a great time with our family, the boys got lots of new toys and clothes and we started to get settled into our new temporary "home" (more on this a little later!). The boys had a great time playing with their cousin, Chase, this year. They also loved their new rocking horse and lego table, just to name a few gifts! We stayed for a long weekend before heading back to Grove to spend the week back at my parents finishing up packing, wrapping gifts, etc. before celebrating Christmas with my side of the family.

Jeff changed his plans at the last minute and drove down from St. Louis on Wednesday evening after work in an effort to beat the blizzard the weathermen were predicting for the next day, Christmas Eve. Sure enough, by noon Wednesday parts of OK were covered in a blanket of snow. The snow didn't make it to Grove until about 8pm though. Of course, since this is OK no snow storm would be complete without freezing rain falling before the snow! This makes for a hard cleanup and very unsafe driving conditions. Because of this my sister, Vicke was not able to make it on Friday like she had planned. So, Christmas morning we all woke up to 6-12 in of snow on the ground, with drifts a lot higher than that! It was beautiful - from the warmth of the inside looking through the dining room glass doors anyway! The boys gazed upon this wondrous site with excitement when they woke up Christmas morning. It is very rare for a white Christmas in OK so I was glad that our last Christmas there was a memorable one! No one came over and we didn't leave the house because of the cold and terrible road conditions. The next day my grandma, my sister Kim and her family and my sister Vicke all made the drive to my parents' house and we had a great day opening gifts, eating and playing Phase 10! Originally the plan Sunday was for both Jeff and I to head back to St. Louis with our cars loaded down with everything we owned that was still left at my parents' house. The roads were better, but we weren't sure how great they would be the entire way. We decided that since there was no hurry for me and the boys to get there that we would wait until Monday to leave. It worked out great and we all made it to St. Louis safe and sound!

So, the boys have now completed their 2nd Christmas. It was more exciting this year since they were able to understand a little more. I anticipate next year will be even more exciting and that they will really be into the meaning behind Christmas! I can't wait!

Chase, Ashton, Ayden and Papa

"The boys" playing with the new lego table. Christmas morning

Ayden opening his stocking

Ashton opening his stocking

Ashton playing in the snow - don't let the face fool you, he didn't care too much for it!

Ayden trying to eat the snow!

Popa with the boys the day we celebrated Christmas with my family.

Our Christmas Cuties!

Daddy and Ayden with a Cheesecake Factory Bear from the Sawyer family!

Ashton opening yet another package!

Everyone was excited about the table and chairs.

This wooden airplane rocker was a huge hit!(Unfornately, it was too big to fit in the car this trip!)

Homes -

So, as I said, we are all in St. Louis now! And, now we are all going through yet another adjustment phase! It is very hard to be without all my "stuff", to be without the boys' cribs, and just in general to be out of our "normal". I will be SOOOOO glad when we finally sell our house and move into one of our own! Jeff's parents have been more than accommodating and the boys have their own room, while Jeff and I have our own sort of efficiency apartment. We are in a portion of their basement that was sort of an office/gym area before we took over! It is nice that we have our own space and that we are not sharing a room with the boys but, unfortunately, Ayden preferred it the other way! He is not sleeping well! I usually have to trudge my half asleep self up the stairs once or twice each night to calm him down. Some nights are better than others, and we are starting to see improvement. I think it is a combination of things, but I think once he realizes that we are all here together and he is safe things will calm down. (This will probably happen just in time for us to move again!!)

Our house has not sold yet, but we are hoping for that magic phone call everyday! We are starting to casually look at different areas around St. Louis trying to narrow in on one area. We thought we had decided on an area, but we have decided to open that up a little more and see what we can find.

'Hole Lotta' Changes -

Oh, how my baby boys are growing! It is not suppose to happen this quickly! Just in the two months since we moved out of our house they have changed dramatically! This is just a quick run down, I am sure I will forget a lot!

~Both boys have added many new words and use them often. They are also started to repeat a little more.

~After over a year of signing the boys both started signing back to me on the same day! That was more than a month ago and since then they have added a couple more signs.

~Their language comprehension is incredible! I often wonder how they know what I am talking about when I ask them to do something new - but, they do! I asked Ayden to get me a Kleenex the other day. We don't usually even have much around, but I have been battling a cold. I had never asked him before, or probably even talked to him about a Kleenex, but he went right over to the box! This is just one of many examples that occur on a daily basis lately. I guess I should just get over it and quit using "they don't understand" as an excuse!


~Ayden is a Puzzle Master! The kid is AMAZING! He perfected his first puzzle the week after Thanksgiving. He did it over and over even when he could do it with his eyes closed! He got a new puzzle when we celebrated Christmas in St. Louis and he put every piece in the correct place on his first attempt. We then got out a more difficult puzzle from our "for later" stash, and he had a little bit more difficulty with that one - but not for long! He had again mastered this in less than a week! Ashton can do the easier shape puzzle and will work on the others. He knows where the pieces go, but gets easily discouraged when they don't go right in.

~My boys have become even SWEETER! They started hugging several months ago, but now they are also kissing and holding hands! It is the most precious thing to watch! They also share food with each other and feed one another!


~They have started to do some pretend play. I so wish we had the boys kitchen right now (it's still in OK)! They are pretending to talk on the phone and give me or each other food/drinks.

~Ashton is an old pro at using utensils and plates/bowls! Ayden started out doing better than Ashton but has now regressed. He will use the spoon if you help him a little, otherwise he prefers to hold the spoon with his right hand and shovel it in by the fistful with this left hand.

Ashton

Ayden

~They have become great little helpers! They are really getting into picking up after playtime and also getting/doing things when asked.

~They are starting to understand and enjoy playing with playdough and coloring.



~Can we say "personal space"?! Their boundaries have sure changed recently. Not only are they hugging, kissing and holding hands...but they are always sitting RIGHT next to one another (sharing a chair even), pushing/guiding each other around (nicely usually), shampooing each other's hair...the list goes on! It is so sweet to watch how close they truely are! We often wonder how they would act had they been born singleton's!?