Justin turns 4

Justin and Todd at the bowling alley

Clayton with Papa

Clayton and Uncle Jim

The three buddies. I think they all had fun.

More pictures to come of the cake, etc at Papa's house. Aunt Dana took pictures there....

Baby Update...

We went to the doctor today for the twins. We heard both heartbeats, good beats! Chatted a bit with the doctor and all seems to be going well. I have had a few bouts of being sick and I am always tired, but other than that, babies are good. I go back in 4 weeks for another checkup and then another 4 weeks after that for my Ultrasound (we will find out the sex of the babies). We don't have a hope for one or another, just so they are healthy.

My doctor is hopeful to get me to my C-section date and have no problems. I am very thankful she is so optimistic as I worry a lot. But, she has the theory why worry when there isn't a problem. She says I will be ready for my "C" as I will be HUGE! :)

Fun times for me ahead.

Our new ride.

We decided it was time to "grow up" and get a minivan! We never thought this would be us. As of today we are owners of a 2004 Nissan Quest. It has bucket seats, third row seats, and a lot of room in the back for groceries and strollers, etc. I hope it works well for us.

More of our Holiday

Uncle Steve puts on a big New Years show....the kids got to do sparklers...

Clayton was totally attached to my Uncle Gerald all weekend. Pretty sure he drooled on his leather jacket :(

New PJ's....thanks Secret Santa!

Justin so excited to have new Thomas PJ's. He outgrew his last pair.

Clatyon got ahold of the sunglasses and had to wear them. Too cute!

I like Justin has an almost real smile here...usually cheesy smile..like below.

I couldn't resist this one..holding hands and the sunglasses.

Just one more time ... so we thought.

Well, we thought we would try for one more baby in our family. Look closely and count. 1, 2....TWINS.

Yes, we are and have been in shock! I am 10.5 weeks along now. Due date is July 28th.

We don't know if they are identical or fraternal yet, and we don't know their gender (s) either.

We will be busy!

Christmas Morning....

We started our morning with Papa coming over for breakfast at 7am. We had our big breakfast in anticipation of gifts.....This train table was out when the boys woke up. Todd made the table top for a table we have had...now it is a train table.

Opening up our stockings....

And opening up gifts.

Peek a boo!

Christmas Eve....

Justin and Todd making Christmas cookies on Christmas eve....Justin was a pro....and loves helping in the kitchen with anything we are doing.

Move over brother!

Justin got up to go to the bathroom and Clayton helped himself to sit on down. I don't think the computer was even on...as Justin is only allowed computer time when Clayton is napping....but they often think it is funny to sit there. Obviously Clayton thinks he is hillarios. Also this week, thinks it is funny to stand on top of the laundry basket (turned upside down) and then dance on top of it.

Tuesday night fun

We get the boys on Tuesday nights....I try to come up with fun things to do when we put Clayton down for bed....we have about an hour until Jim and Dana pick up the boys. Usually it is art work and airplane making. This week it was making their "uniform" from the paper.

Next week - Christmas artwork....guess I need to hit the craft store.

Homemade Carmel Corn

Thought I would try out some homemade carmel corn. I have loads of carmels from Halloween that we didn't pass out...what to do with them? I thought a holiday snack sounded like fun. I am fairly sure this batch won't make it past 8pm tonight....it is really good. Thinking of adding some chocolate chips too....

a skiff of snow here....

Clayton enjoying the outside snow...didn't love the gloves, but fun.

Both Boys.

Justin full of GLEE to be outside...wants more snow though. The ice is what you cna't see...makes for slippin and sliding.I pulled some snow from the car to show Justin and he just wanted more...it just fell apart...not sticking...maybe someday we can do a snowman

Happening around here....this past weekend

On saturday Dad took Todd and Justin to Portland to a tool show. They got home and brought in their "loot" to check out. Of coarse we had to watch the corresponding DVD's as well. Poor Dad probably would have napped, but 2 little boys wanted him to play with him :) We had dinner her that night too.

Just our cutie Clayton. Didn't ya know this is how you eat yogurt.

And, I had some frozen fruit, pectin, and sugar just hanging out in the house...we are out of jam...so put them together and cheap jam. . . we will see if it sets up. There was no directions for mixed fruit so I picked one and went with it.

And, the boys in matching clothes.

Big Boy Haircut.

Last night we cut Clayton's hair for the first time with the shaver, etc. Before we have just clipped his wisps of hair, but finally he has a big boy haircut. I remember Justin having a ton of hair at this age, and we had already cut his hair a ton by now.

Clayton is doing well. Had his 15 month visit last week with shots...he cries for a minute, then he is done. He was very tired afterwards, and got to get Daddy snuggles. He is 21 pounds (not enough per the Dr.) and not sure how long....but he is healthy...Dr. says 10th percentile is too low for him. So, we keep on feeding him, but he is probably like his Daddy....can eat anything and not gain a pound!

Pumpkin Patch - 2nd Annual

Check out Our Two Tootlepops for pics of our 2nd Annual Pumpkin Patch trip.

a new toy for Justin

Justin is now mostly potty trained. His prize for not having an accident for a week was a toy from WallyWorld. We went yesterday with Papa to the store and he picked out his toy - a remote control Molly engine. He slept with it last night and has been entertained all morning.

He is doing very well. He is in big boy pants 24/7. The pulls up were a crutch and he would wait to get them on, then pee his pants. And, if anyone has trouble potty training, I am sure it can't be worse that with Justin. It has been 4 weeks of struggle...he would hold it for 10+ hours, a trip to the doctor...and we still have work. I tell you, the people that say potty train in 3 days - what a joke! Maybe some kids, but not mine. We are working on a few things...like public...haven't done that yet, we have a potty in the back of the tahoe and use that all the time...and #2's are still a struggle...we seem to hold them in...we are on day 5 now...if nothing comes, he will get a nice little "present" from the pharmacy :(

Anyway, I am so glad it is done...he is a very good little boy most of the time. I think he has already forgotten that he used to wear diapers. I did ask him last week if he wanted a diaper to "poo" in and he said "NO WAY"...glad for that.

Happenings around here lately.

This is what Todd loves to do...work in the garage....

He recently got an attic ladder from the "dumpster" pile at work. One of the contractors took it out of a house and put in a new one and gave the ladder part to Dad for his metal pile (you can get paid for metal). Anyway, my hubby has wanted one of these for our attic, but they are about $200, so after a few adjustments, a $10 trip to the hardware store, and a few hours of work...we have an attic ladder!

The band at my house last night

This band played for us for a long time, until quiet time was needed for Clayton...

Our quiet time activity included a lot of artwork.

The past few weeks.

we learned this from our cousins...at least he is still below the line...they climb up on top of the bed.


Hanging out waiting on mom to finish the dishes at breakfast.

Labor Day weekend

We aren't too exciting around here. We decided to stay around home and "Potty Train"...

Todd worked out on the backyard. Getting in sprinklers for the lawn to come and planted some seed within the dirt and grass there...hope it shows up and looks good in a month or so, will let you know. We have a backyard plan, but awaiting more funds for the rest.

Clayton watching as the boys are outside working

Love this shot of him.

The working boys.