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!

Time flies when you're havin' fun!

We must be having a lot of fun, because out of no where today we had our 15 month baby well visit! It seems like these pictures were taken so recently...

Ashton

Ayden

This was by far our worst well visit yet! Jeff couldn't get away from work since he is trying to get everything done for next week, when we will be on vacation. We did start off on a good note though! We were actually ON TIME! That might be the first time we were on time to a doctor's appointment! Unfortunately, it all went down hill from there. I think the boys are about ready to go down to one nap. They are also starting to stay awake longer in the car (read: They don't fall asleep before we get out of the neighborhood anymore). Well, today they both stayed awake the entire 20ish minutes we were in the car. They really benefit from these "car naps" and without it we already had a strike against us. For the first time the boys seemed to know where we were or what was going to happen. Just after the nurse came in the room they both started to fuss. They both fought her and I to take their measurements. They really hate to lay down and that is how they are still measuring them. When she tried to measure their head circumference they both screamed again/still and tried to grab the tool from her. Then we each carried a boy out to the hall to weigh them. She first sat Ashton down on the baby scale and he screamed and cried and tried to get off. She then decided to attempt to lay him down - remember how great that worked last time...so she sat him back up and just took a number because it would never stop calibrating since Ashton continued to scream! In the mean time I am holding Ayden who is watching this and already starting to cry. As soon as I sat him down he screamed bloody murder. She again just wrote down a close number as both boys attracted the attention of the entire office. We went back to our room so she could take their tempetures, as soon as she left the room they both instantly stopped crying. It was right on cue and very comical! I read to the boys and they happily looked at books while we waited on the doctor. Right after he walked in Ayden started getting anxious and wanted to sit in my lap. After talking for a few minutes I stood up to hand Ayden to the doctor to look him over and he immediately began crying, this of course, lead to Ashton also crying. They both screamed and cried and fought until their physicals were both complete. After the doctor left they again calmed down (not anticipating what was to come next) and I finished the book I had started. The nurse returned with her hand full of needles and her scrub top covered in band aids. I will spare you the details, but these were the worst shots yet! Why can't they make all vaccinations oral?! I can't take much more of this! We again let the entire office know we were leaving and walked out with our parting gift - a free bottle of Tylenol each! The boys were exhausted from the mornings events and were out in less than a mile. We drove to Jeff's office so he could see his boys and show them off. Afterwards we headed home for lunch and a MUCH needed nap!

OK, on with the stats:

(by the way, I wouldn't put money on these being 100% accurate...)

Ashton

weight: 21lbs 3oz (10%)

height: 32 1/2in (85%)

head: 48 1/7cm (85%)

Ayden
weight: 25lbs 5oz (55%)
height:32in (75%)
head: 48 1/7cm (85%)

Our tearful visit!

Happy to be home!

Library, peaches and so much more!

What a busy week we've had! Last week I took the boys to the local library for the first time and we participated in a very interactive storytime! The boys seemed very interested in all the other kids and the "commotion" of so many toddlers and parents in one room. We plan to add the library into our agenda a little more often since we had so much fun!

Ayden

Ashton

These pictures were taken when we got home. I went to the library by myself and the boys were sitting on my lap so it made it a little difficult to take a picture. I can't believe how BIG (or how stinkin' cute!!) they look in these pictures!

My dad celebrated in 73rd birthday last week so to celebrate I invited some family over for a pizza party! We all brought different toppings and different crusts and made a pizza buffet. It was great! My favorite was a Mediterranean pizza I made with basil pesto I prepared using fresh basil! YUMMMMM! The next morning we got up and all headed to Porter for the annual Peach Festival. Jeff and I had planned to take the boys for several weeks when Friday evening he leared he would have to stay home to make some last minute graphic design changes for a concert the radio station was hosting that night. We were a little bummed, but took off to enjoy the day anyway. Between leaving a little late (imagine that!?), and (ah-hmm) taking the scenic route, we ended up missing what I hoped would be the boys' first parade. We listened to some live music, looked at all the craft vendors and indulged in some vanilla ice cream covered in Porter peaches! I even let the boys join in the cold, fruity deliciousness!

Ashton hates the stroller so I wore him in the Beco most of the time.

My mom wore Ayden for a little while.

My grandma (aka - GiGi), also got into the babywearing! Not only did she wear her dog in my wrap, she also feed him ice cream from her spoon!

They both loved the peaches and ice cream (of course...they are my children)!

Jeff felt bad that he was not able to go with us to Porter, and then had to spend the entire evening taking video of the concert, so he wanted to make it up to me and the boys. So, we decided to take a trip to the zoo on Sunday. We have been very fortunate to enjoy a few days of 90* temps, after over a week of 100*+ days! It was a great day to go to the zoo and we got to see more animals than last time. We decided to try a little different traveling system this time as well. Even though our boys are not even quite 15 months old, we are already tired of all the "stuff" required to travel with two babies! Diaper bag, stroller, sippys, sunscreen, etc... We put sunscreen on the boys, grabbed a bottle of water, strapped them each in a Beco on our backs and headed into the zoo! That was it! It was SO freeing! We were able to pass people on the sidewalk, get into tight locations and even go "off roading"! We are so happy with our investment in our Beco's! OK, so I digress! We had a fun time at the zoo and got to see the zebra up really close. I have never seen them so close to the fence - they are so beautiful! Well, most of them were beautiful...one decided to pee when they got up close and it was like someone just dumped out 2 full buckets of water under him! We also saw tons of animals in the rainforest that I hadn't seen before. We came home and ate a late lunch and put the boys down for a nap. They were out by 3:45 and Jeff and I were out by 4:00! It was so nice to take an afternoon nap. In fact, it was so nice that none of us woke up until 6:30!

We saw some zebra up closer than this, but we were too busy watching them to think about getting a picture then!

Daddy and Ayden

Mommy and Ashton

We have another busy week planned this week and we have to pack for our upcoming vacation to St. Louis!

Ayden found his...

I know what you were thinking! Actually, that happened a long time ago! Yesterday Ayden discovered he has a belly button just like Mommy and Daddy! He has been obsessed with holes recently. He began digging in our belly buttons, and our mouths, several weeks ago and this week decided nostrils were pretty fun too! Yesterday while sitting on the floor he lifted up his shirt, looked down, and put his finger right in his belly button. He then preceded to look over at me and laugh at himself!

Ayden checking himself out in the oven!

Today the boys went with me to In the Raw for a lunch date with some friends. They both enjoyed looking all around as the people passed them by. Unfortunately, they didn't get to enjoy their first sushi experience. Daddy warned me that he wanted to be around for that first!

Lil' Picasso's

We had a pretty quiet 4th of July this year. We stayed home and enjoyed the AC and just being together! Lindsey, Michael and Bailey came over with some fireworks on the 4th, so the boys did get to see their first fireworks before we put them to bed. Since we live in the county there were fireworks EVERYWHERE! We just sat outside and enjoyed them from our front porch.

Ashton

Ayden

Lindsey and me with the boys

Is he laughing at Lindsey or the fireworks?!

Michael and Bailey with the smoke bombs.

The boys had their first real paint experience on Sunday. I had painted their hands and feet for some "memento" items but, being an early childhood teacher, I don't consider that "painting". I put newspaper down on our patio and gave them some paint and a couple utensils. They were more interested in painting themselves than the paper though! They are just starting to not put everything directly into their mouths, although they did try a few times! They were quickly bored with the paint and the swing set lured them over. Before long the cats led them to the baby pool where they splashed around for a bit. They are becoming very adventurous and move quickly from one activity/toy to the next!

Unfortunately, all these pictures were taken right away and so we didn't get any when they were done and had a lot of blue paint on them!