July 26, 2007

Nick and Ben, using a fork to eat their PB&J sandwich. They tend to eat more of their sandwich if they use a fork. Not sure if it is because they don't like messy hands or just a fascination with forks and spoons, although Nick does not care for messy hands and wants me to wipe them if he gets something on them.









Don't they look so big? I can't believe how much they have grown in 6 months.
















Nick, showing off his milk mustache and maybe a milk beard too:).














The boys received a gift last week from a good friend of mine from Houston. She sent them a John Deere barn, that came with a tractor, small wagon to pull behind the tractor, bail of hay, horse, goat (which I thought was a cow at first:) and a rooster. It also came with a field of corn and, when you move the water facet to "water the corn", the corn "grows". Hard to explain but it is really cute.









The boys were anxiously watching dad put it all together and were very excited.













...and maybe a little bummed that it was taking longer than they thought it should:). They have had so much fun with this new toy.






They also have this thing about flashlights. I happened to find one the other day (well, two actually) made for 1.5 years and up. One is shaped like a zebra and the other is shaped like an alligator. When you turn them on, they make cute sounds. The alligator says "chomp chomp chomp mmmmmmmmm yum yum yum".  Cracks us up:).

July 25, 2007

This morning, the boys learned how to climb the ladder and go down the slide by themselves, with close supervision from mom. It was very cute. They were so excited!

When we were outside playing on Sunday evening, Nick was bitten by a mosquito near the edge of his eye brow and the outer edge of his eye. Monday it looked fine. Yesterday he woke up with a very swollen, red eye lid. It was pretty nasty looking. Doctor dad said it had gotten infected so now Nick is taking an antibiotic. It looked a little better this morning but is still swollen and red. When they played outside in their wading pool yesterday evening, we lit one of those candles that keeps the mosquitoes away. I didn't see any new bites on Nick today, yea!

July 23, 2007

The boys played in their sandbox yesterday evening, while I was weeding the nearby flower beds. They had a great time. Nick started climbing in and out on his own, which is a bit of a feat, since one must climb over a row of large rocks to get to the sandbox. He was having fun climbing on the rocks. So Ben decided it looked like fun and he wanted to try too. He is not quite as physically coordinated yet so it was a bit harder for him. He fell a couple of times and I had to go help him up. They played in their little pool after the sandbox and were climbing in and out of that too.

They are just so in to climbing everything now and especially wanting to try to climb up and down stairs upright, like adults do. They are very close to being able to do this. They can go up but down is a bit scary. If we had a stair rail they could reach, I think they could do it. Nick can now open most doors in the house but not the ones that go outside, thankfully. Although I am happy that he is hitting these physical milestones on track, I find this accomplishment somewhat annoying:).

It's hard to believe Ben will be 2 years old in September. Wow, time flies by so fast. I didn't think this the first couple of months they were home but now I feel it.

We left them in their nursery class again at church on Sunday. Nick cried for a few minutes. We stood around the corner and listened for a few minutes and he stopped before too long. The caregivers said both the boys had fun playing and did fine while we were gone. They did not cry when we picked them up but were happy to see us. Nick saw me first and ran towards the door saying "momma momma". When Ben saw me, he got a huge smile on his face and then looked past me, wondering where his daddy was. It was cute.

They are both still eating really well and they eat just about anything. I keep waiting and wondering when this will change. I'm expecting it sometime within the next 6 months or so. We'll see.

They are using words more and more to ask for things, rather than whining. Yesterday, Ben wanted something that he could not reach in the toy basket. He came over to me and said "mama, pweeeze", with a big grin on his face. It was the first time that he remembered to do this totally on this own. That is a very rewarding experience. I love to hear them talk. Sometimes, when Nick wakes up first, I'll hear him over the baby monitor, singing in his crib. There are not recognizable words but he is definitely singing and it sounds so sweet.

July 20, 2007

Wow, what a day! My husband was off today so we planned a family outing. We packed up a ton of stuff and headed up towards "the farm", where many in my family live. There is a gated community near there on the lake, which has a very nice pool and to which my brother and his family have access, along with their guests. My sister, nephew and niece joined us and we really had a great time.

Ben was a bit cautious at first but it didn't take him long to start enjoying himself. Nick was laughing and excited from the time we arrived until the time we left. Both boys enjoyed standing on the side of the pool and stepping in, almost like jumping but not quite. They haven't learned to jump yet.

After swimming, we went to a local hamburger place to get a bite to eat. My brother, dad (Papa) and step-mom (Mimi) joined us. The boys enjoyed seeing their Papa and Mimi. After eating, we went for a quick visit with my grandmother (Grandma Rilla). My uncle (dad's brother), Aunt and cousin were there, so we were able to visit with them for a little while too, which was an added bonus.

After that, we stopped by my dad's farm and took the boys for a four-wheeler ride. They enjoyed it but, by this time they were getting verrrry tired. After the four-wheeler ride, we went in for a short visit...very short, because the boys were ready to crash by this time.

The trip home is about 90 minutes long, give or take 15 minutes depending on traffic. The boys were asleep within about 10 minutes but we had to stop for gas. We were about half way home when we stopped and they never went back to sleep. We got home, fed them and put them to bed as quickly as possible.

Another opposite for the boys: When Ben gets really really tired, he walks around with little eyes that look like they are going to shut any minute, he plays quietly (normally), he is very stubborn about anything and everything, seems relieved to get into his crib, and falls asleep really fast without a whimper. When Nick is really really tired, he gets wound up faster and faster, is much more volatile with his moods and gets upset over the smaller thing, is upset about having to get into his crib (which is also the case a lot of times when he has had his sleep) and he takes much longer to fall asleep than normal. When they have the amount of sleep they need, Nick normally falls asleep really fast and Ben has a harder time falling asleep.

July 19, 2007

Ben is content to play by himself and tends to do this after spending a lot of time with others. If Nick and Ben are in the library playing and Ben goes into the living room, Nick will soon follow, walk right over to where Ben is playing and sit down next to him and start playing with something. I have mentioned before that, if Ben is awake and Nick is sleeping, Ben is content to play by himself for a bit and let me get some things done. If Nick is awake and Ben is asleep, Nick wants to hang out with me or for me to play with him.  Cute kids!

July 18, 2007

This is a "happy face". When I ask Nick to show me his happy face, this is what I get, along with an "eeee", of which I am not sure exactly what that is suppose to mean...but it's cute.

Do you think this child loves hats?? He loves to play with hats and wear hats around the house. He had these two hats on for quite a while.










And here is the other happy face.  Ben would rather not wear his hat.  These little guys are opposites in soooo many ways.


















Here is a picture of the boys, sitting on a rug in our bathroom, while mom gets ready for the day. They do very well with this but I have only done it twice so far. My preference is to have my stuff done when they wake up but I am not always that on the ball. This makes for a nice back up plan. We keep lots of little toys in the pictured lock box and they forget to play with them so this makes a good thing to keep them busy for a while.








Sorry for the bad focus in this picture but I could not resist including it. This is Nick, trying to figure out how to put this toe-divider thingy (used for toe nail painting) between his toes. I got quite a kick out of this. Ben did it too but I was not fast enough to get his picture.












Ben decided to try to balance an octagon on his toe and he was really good at it.

July 17, 2007

Six months ago today, we were going to court. For some reason, this has made me very teary eyed this morning. I would never have guessed or began to understand that six months later we would be so very blessed. What a privilege God has given us....and a huge responsibility. I feel incredibly blessed.

Six months seems to be a big milestone for us. The boys seem much more attached than ever, which is to be expected I guess. In the past, when people came to visit and would get ready to leave, the boys would get upset and start crying, as if they thought we were leaving them or someone might take them. It was similar when we went to visit someone else's house, as if they were afraid they might be left behind.

Today, they happily wave and say "dye dye", or something like that. The fear is gone and they seem confident that they are with us for good. They are more comfortable with others and there is true joy when they are playing with our family and friends.

We had been staying with them again, in their class at church since they had been promoted to a new class, new teachers, new kids who are more at their level and able to put up a fight for a toy:). This past Sunday, we left them in their new class for the first time. Nick started to get a bit uneasy but one of the teachers picked him up and started working a puzzle with him. We kissed them both goodbye and told them we were going to our class but we would be back to get them later. Much to my surprise (shock), neither of them cried at all, the entire time we were gone! And, they did not cry when we came back to get them! Now I will be very surprised it that happens every Sunday, but I think it is a very good sign.

We still get lots of "are they twins" questions, when we are out and about. My niece, who stayed with us for a couple of days recently was surprised at how often the question comes up.  I proudly say, "no, we built our family through adoption and they are six weeks apart".

Our family is gel-ing. We are doing well. God has blessed us richly.

And I will sign off now and get busy with my day, as one of my sons is a bit upset that the three mega blocks he is trying to put together do not match up...two of them are large and one is small and he is upset that they are not all large:).

July 16, 2007

I am working on teaching the boys to use words to ask for things, rather than the grunting or, more often than not, whining. We still have a long way to go on this one but they are picking it up. They are already saying peeeze and thank you a lot, which is great, but they are still learning to talk so we are learning as we go.

They will say "peeeeeeeeze!" and I am left to wonder "peeeze what?" most of the time. They can say the word but they don't seem to think of it most of the time, meaning they can say "cookie", for instance, but they don't say "peeze cookie", they just say "peeze" and point to the cabinet where the cookies are kept. They are both very smart and quick learners though, so I'm sure it will click soon. Actually, Nick was in his high chair yesterday and said "peeze cracker", which was the first time he had put two words together. I was telling Ben how to ask for a cracker politely when this happened so Nick had a little help, but I was still impressed and pleased to see he picked it up so quickly.

I am enjoying being a mom more than ever and I am loving my boys more than ever.

July 14, 2007

Nick has a little stuffed giraffe that we got in Russia and he just loves it and sleeps with it all the time. Quite some time ago, I started calling it his little "buddy".  I have noticed lately that he seems to call it his "Ya Ya", which really surprised me because it does not sound anything like "buddy". When he says "bye bye", it sounds more like "dye dye" so, if he was trying to say buddy, I would think it would sound like it started with a "d". So when he was just getting ready for nap, I could not find it anywhere. He was in his crib saying "Ya Ya?, Ya Ya?". It broke my heart that I could not find it. He was not crying about it but he definitely wanted to know where it was. When I finally found it, I sneaked into his room and put it in his crib right next to him:). I love to watch them sleep:).

(Note: Later I found out that "Ya Ya" means "mine" in Russian.:)

July 12, 2007

The other day, we went to the sprinkler park at a nearby city park. The boys had a fun time. I was constantly on alert, making sure I could see them both and trying to make sure they did not get mowed down by the big kids. It's a nice little sprinkler park. I think we will enjoy it more when the big kids go back to school. Nick, wearing the orange cap, is going through the blue hoops in this picture.












This is when we first arrived. Ben was a bit timid about getting wet but after I helped him out a little, he was really into it.















Nick does not need any help when it comes to getting wet. He absolutely loves the water. I got a great deal on their little caps so they no longer have to wear my big caps.
















Nick contemplating whether or not to walk under the big fountain of water coming out of the snakes mouth. He got in it a little and would run back out.













Watching the big kids enjoying the big splashes from the buckets. The water cycles around the different sprinkler activities so the big kids are running from one thing to the next.











Fortunately there is a little bit of water still squirting from the snake and a couple of other activities when the water moves on. The boys don't need a lot of water to have fun and they like to play with the bit that is still squirting from the snake and the blue rings.





My niece came over for a visit on Thursday morning and left this morning (Saturday). She is really great with the boys and they just love her. They had so much fun playing with her and, man, did it make things a lot easier for me! What a difference an extra set of helping hands makes.




The boys like to look through the Reader's Digest. I am using these magazines to teach them not to tear pages in books. They are doing pretty well with this.


 They are looking like such big boys lately. I can't believe how quickly they are changing.

Julu 11, 2007

Nick and Ben playing with the pillows on the couch.














Ben was very happy with himself, after climbing into the kitty bed.










Nick and Ben on their wagon ride, when we visited my grandmother on the 4th of July. My sister was pulling them and my husband was taking pictures. I was in the house. Apparently Ben did not smile until they were headed back towards the house. Maybe he was too hot...he gets hot very easily.








Ben and Nick standing on their new little step stools. These are the ones that are made from tall cans. They love these little stools because they can now climb up on the living room chairs.

My mom gave these to the boys. They were originally made for my two oldest brothers so they are pretty old.







Nick playing with one of the toys I hate most, especially since they now know how to switch it over to the louder mode...and also the Spanish mode, which is actually kind of funny.

Please tell me what parent *likes* the loud mode of these noisy toys?? I hid these toys in the toy box under the table, pictured behind Nick here, with all of the other toys I don't like or they are not quite ready for. The boys finally discovered these drawers and how to pull them out. I have to find a new hiding place...maybe the trash!!??








Ben playing with Mr. Potato Head, which was also in the hidden drawer as a toy the boys weren't quite ready for. They have fun with it but they can only play with it with supervision, since it has small parts and they still put things in their mouth sometimes.








The Learning Tower that we ordered came yesterday evening. It is really nice and sturdy, although a bit heavy. I put pads on the bottom so we can slide it across the floor. The boys love it and now I just have to find things they can help with.

My only disappointment is that it is a bit smaller than it looked in the pictures. In one of the pictures, it looked like it could hold two kids easily. In reality, it is a bit cramped with two, which leads to more pushing and shoving:).

It also comes with a star-covered cloth that can be draped across the top so little ones can imagine they are in a tent or something. It is definitely very well built and not easy to tip over. Nick has already learned how to climb into it and out of it on his own.






First try at wiping down the counter top. They are so excited and eager to help do anything right now. I will save these pictures and remind them of this, when they are at the age that they don't want to help:).











Ben, wiping down one of the living room tables. This is the one that gave him the black eye, not long after he arrived home and was learning to walk.










And, last but not least, both boys working together to wipe down the same living room table, with Dancer the cat resting on the chair in the background. This table was actually pretty clean by the time they finished.

We are getting a good start on training good little helpers around the house:).



The bad news is that Nick woke up with a low grade fever *again*. I was so bummed. I was planning to take them to the little water playground at the park this morning but when I saw that Nick was running a 100 degree fever, I decided to keep him home. I noticed yesterday that he had a bit of a stuffy nose and was sneezing some but just chalked it up to allergies and being outside more lately. I'm not sure if he caught something from church again (the timing is perfect for that) or if this might just be a teething fever. Do kids run 100 degree fevers while teething?? He was very fussy and whiny again this morning. He tends to be much more volatile than normal when he has a fever, going from happy to a tantrum in one second flat. I hope it is just a teething thing that goes away quickly.

July 9, 2007 - First Time Playing in the Water Hose

Today I let the boys play in the water from the hose and they had a great time. Nick especially loves the water and put his face and head right in front of the hose. It was pretty funny. The water was really cold though and they were soaking wet so it didn't take too long before Nick was getting cold and I turned off the hose, much to their disappointment. I love watching them play and discover new things.

July 6, 2007 - Boom Boom

I made homemade banana chocolate chip muffins yesterday morning. I put walnuts in all but four of them (for the boys).  They are delicious and the boys and I enjoyed them for our afternoon snack (or "nack", as the boys say:).

We had another intense thunderstorm here yesterday afternoon. The boys were both scared of all of the thunder and the wind blowing the trees so hard. We sat in the big rocking chair and listened to children's Christian music and I sang to them. It was sweet and I just stay really calm and talk about the wind and thunder. I was saying "boom boom" to the thunder and Nick started saying "boom boom" over and over. So I asked him if he liked the "boom boom" and he shook his head no, very emphatically. The electricity flashed out twice, which made our stereo go off, but I just kept singing. They really enjoy it when I sing.

July 5, 2007 - Happy July 4th!

Yesterday morning the boys wanted to play with their pajamas, after I had changed them into their clothes. So, I went into the bathroom to dispose of their dirty diapers. Soon after I heard them pulling out the kitchen trash. I told them to push it back in and stay out of the trash, which they did. Later I was looking for their pajamas and could not find them anywhere. I looked in the trash and, sure enough, there they were, right on top of the coffee grounds:). My sister and her husband lost a TV remote control that way when their kids were little.

Twice, within the last week, Ben was walking through the living room not paying attention to where he was going and smacked into the wall:). One of the times I was watching him and he was looking up and kind of behind him. The other time I was not watching but just heard the big thump. Both times he walked smack dab into a wall and fell back onto his bottom. He was not hurt either time and actually had a huge smile on his face.  I just cracked up laughing....when I think about it now, I crack up laughing again. He is such a funny kid sometimes.

We had a great time today at my grandmother's house and the boys really had fun with so many aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents around. They really handled it well and seemed to really enjoy it. They were pretty good about playing with everyone and letting some people pick them up. My sister took them for a ride up the lane in a million-year-old, little red wagon. Nick was very excited about it but Ben didn't start smiling until they were on the way back.

We were all tired when we got home. We put the boys to bed early this evening, which they desperately needed. I am lying in bed, typing this up, and I have a cat lying on my shoulder, hoping I'll stop and pet him.  Happy Independence Day!!

July 4, 2007 - First Time to Mall Playland

We finally got out of the house and went to the mall this morning. It was our first trip to the mall and it went very well.  The boys found the experience interesting and especially enjoyed being able to see the people downstairs through the glass rail/barrier thing, as we were strolling along upstairs.  We went to the little kids playground area and they had a fun time. It was really nice for a quick play time and I'm sure we will be regular visitors.  They also really enjoyed the elevator, which has glass on three sides so they could watch as we went up and down.

When we got home it was nap time, so I quickly fixed them a chicken pot pie. They ate most of it and, when Nick was almost done, he picked out the rest of the peas and carrots and ate them and left the rest of the crust. These veggie-loving boys, I am continually amazed at their veggie eating.

July 3, 2007 - Anticipation

Here is Nick, excited about his tower and anxiously anticipating the knock-it-down phase.












Anxious Anticipation.




















Here is Ben, just having eaten most of his broccoli, but leaving his PB&J sandwich. I even waited to serve the broccoli a little later in the meal, hoping they would eat more of their sandwich for the protein. These boys LOVE broccoli. I think they are on to me on the delayed veggie servings now, so it's not very effective these days.













And here is Nick, eating his bowl of broccoli. I believe this is probably their favorite veggie, although I've yet to find one they didn't like.

Yesterday I served mac & cheese first and, once again, delayed serving their veggie a bit. As soon as I served the veggie, they quit eating the mac & cheese and only ate the veggie, asking for more when they had finished. Maybe they should be in the book of World Records for Best Veggie Eating Toddlers or something.

July 2, 2007 - Skinny Dipping Babies

The boys and I spent some much needed time outside, playing in the yard today. The boys played in the yard, while I cleaned out the gunky, overflowing pool. The boys played in the sandbox, while I pulled weeds from one of the flower beds. By then, they were getting hot, since it was very humid with no wind here today. So I filled the pool with about two inches of water, stripped them down and let them play in the water. The water was really cold so I knew that more than two inches would be too cold for them but they really had fun splashing around in that small amount of water and it helped them cool off a bit. I think they enjoyed running around naked for a little while and nobody had any accidents during that time so, good for me:). It was so cute to watch them play. What a sweet, cute age.

July 1, 2007 - Mmmmmm

Today is a lazy day at our house, at least it is for me anyway:). My husband is NEVER lazy. He is the hardest working person I know, he enjoys working around the house, and also his real job, very much and he hardly ever takes a break. His idea of a break is either a 15 minute nap (literally), a fast bicycle ride (for exercising the heart muscle) or reading medical articles. He does enjoy watching movies though, although we have only been out to the movies once since the arrival of our two sons. We usually rent one movie on the weekend.

The kiddos woke up this morning around 8:00 and I fixed them some banana pancakes. As he was eating, Nick kept saying "mmmmmmm"; it was really cute.  They both went down for nap around 11:30. Ben woke up at 1:30, which was his typical 2 hour nap. Nick is still sleeping and it is now 3:30!! (just got to thinking about how long that was so I went up stairs to check on him again and he had just woken up:).

Ben went to Home Depot with his daddy so it's just Nick and I right now. Nick is sitting next to me dipping crackers in his yogurt and saying "mmmmmmm". He really likes his yogurt.

Ben and daddy are home, Nick is finished with his yogurt and is standing at the window singing...sure sounds like singing anyway. I must go. Hope you are having a relaxing Sunday.