Boys Will Be Boys.

I have to keep telling myself that there is a possibility that we will have more weeks like this week. Especially if baby #3 is a boy. Although, from the stories I have heard about Andrew's sisters and getting hurt it may not matter.

The week started out by the boys (well, Gavin) waking up earlier than he had the past two weeks. This is not my idea of a way to start the week. I was getting so used to some alone time before I started the day. I guess I just need to get up earlier. Then that morning (Monday)after getting the boys dressed we went downstairs and were going to play in the family room. Well, I married someone much like my father in that his reply to it is cold is to put on more clothes. So, I got the boys downstairs and then went upstairs to get a sweatshirt. While I was getting a sweatshirt Gavin started crying. I thought great, Drew has taken something away from him or he has tripped over something. Nope, I wish that were the case. I came down to Drew standing at the gate with a stocking weight in his hand. I went around the corner and saw Gavin screaming and blood running down his head. Needless to say, I panicked. He had a pretty good gash on top of his forehead but as with head wounds it was just bleeding profusely. I then felt horrible because I thought I had them taped down and up high enough that they could not reach. No, Gavin had the jingle bell from the toe of his stocking still clutched in his little palm. At least that way I knew that he pulled it over on his own head and that Drew just tampered with the evidence. Gav calmed quite easily and we got a band aide on it and two band aides later the bleeding stopped.

The next day we spent a wonderful meal at Olive Garden for my birthday. That was the only way I could get Andrew there even though I have been craving their salad for the last month. The boys were delightful for their first real restaurant experience and we went home happy and stuffed. Harper got a little excited and knocked Drew down on the stairs while he was still in his puffy winter jacket and he did a face plant into the stairs. He had a pretty good bruise the next day on his cheek.

Then for the emergency room injury. Thursday Drew got up early from his nap which one of them seemed to do all week. We were enjoying a snack as we were sitting on the couch. He fell off the couch backwards and hit his head on the coffee table. The impact split his upper ear wide open. I could tell right away that we needed to seek medical attention. I quickly woke up Gavin and got them all bundled up (it has been snowy and cold this week as well.) We loaded in the van and called Daddy. We first tried to go to a clinic that was just around the corner from our house. -A different one that turned us away 15 minutes before closing time with Gavin. They also turned us away saying that a plastic surgeon may want to stitch him up so his ear will not be deformed or badly scarred. So the nurse helped me load up again so we could head to the ER. Andrew met us there, thank goodness, and they saw us rather quickly. I called my dad crying and asking him to say a little prayer because I was afraid of being reported. He reassured me that they know what to look for and everything was going to be all right- I have a great Dad! The only problem we had at the ER was that the staff kept walking in and asking which one was hurt due to the bandage on Gavin's head. They glued him up and we found out that he actually had split open the front and the back and was very lucky that it did not cut all the way through. They told us they would see us again because boys will be boys. Oh boy! Or as my Grandma would say boy oh!

Here is a shot of Drew we got today where you can see his ear. We didn't want to get too close because it is not very pretty. His bruise is on the cheek that you can't see.

I came down stairs the other day after chasing Gavin from downstairs to hear the sound of a man's voice. This is what I found. He actually pulled the chair over and started a sermon we had on the desktop. I guess he needed to hear some preachin' that morning.

Gavin is doing his Santa impression. Mommy thought they were handling their spoons pretty well so she gave them a new kind of yogurt. Needless to say it was a little less thick than the stuff we were using before. They had fun though afterwards drawing on their trays in the yogurt.

We took this today at the Twice and Thrice Christmas party(the twins group here). Gavin was not going anywhere near Santa unless Mommy was with him. Drew did really well and we luckily did not have another Easter Bunny experience. We are looking forward to a relaxing week with Daddy home all week and Grandma and Grandpa Greene and Katherine coming on Monday.

Happy 5 years, my love. 5 years ago you made my dreams come true. I love you more and more everyday!

So I haven't blogged in a while. . .

This might explain why I have not posted in so long . . .


As you can see we are all in shock after waiting two LONG years with the twins. If that does not make it clear maybe this will . . .

. . . coming the end of June 2009.

3 kids 2 and under.

3 in diapers!

If I would have been this sick with the boys we may have just had 2!

Unlike my sister we HAVE to know. We will hopefully find out in mid Feb.

More later but right now I need a nap!

Is it Spring yet?

I am already ready for Spring and the weather has not even been bad here. The boys just love being outside and it has not been ideal for them to be out. It would also be nice if we had a fence so we could all relax outside-hint hint, my wonderful husband.

So I have been telling the grandparents that I would post some video and this is the best we have. The boys are on the go all the time now and we were trying to keep it short for the blog and it just was not working. We try to keep it short so we don't loose past posts-if anyone knows how to avoid this please share your knowledge. We did get some cute footage of dancing to some marching band music-Gav has got some moves, but either Harp was barking or Drew was mad or Gavin was pounding on some metal bowls and you could not hear anything. So this is the best we have. They have identified some of their body parts for a while but I have just not tried to get it on video. Drew was not having anything to do with performing on this day he just wanted to sit on my lap but of course he is "talking" through the whole thing. I know I have talked about his obsession with lights and now you can hear just a glimpse of what I am talking about. Gavin would also not do anything without his pacey that day. So here it is.

Speaking of pacey the boys have also been working on following instructions. We are trying to just let Gavin have his pacey in his bed, but it is not going so well. When we leave their room I always have him put his pacey in bed. He usually obliges and we are on our way. The other day he was just not cooperating. He stood there testing me probably wondering what I would do if he did not put his pacey in the bed. I told him twice and was about to take action, but Drew took care of it. He pulled the pacey out of Gav's mouth threw it in his bed (the one Gav was sleeping in that week) and made his way out the door. I did not realize that he was catching on to the directions that I was giving Gavin to do. I had never told him to put anything in bed but he obviously knew the routine and was ready to move on. It amazes me what little sponges they are! I hope we are having them soak up the right things-that is my prayer!

Tagged

Jodie tagged me a while back and I am just getting around to posting about it. The tag is to blog about the 4th picture in your fourth file. I had it pretty easy because we have not had our computer for very long.

This was just the beginning of Drew's climbing in things. He now has moved onto bigger things. He loves to get in the cabinet that you can kind of see in the picture and his truck toy box. It is nice that they are playing a little more independently now. The only problem is they are a little clingy right now. Especially Drew, it could be due to the fact that he has been suspended from the church nursery for biting so he rarely leaves my side, or the fact that he is cutting 4 teeth (again). It is so neat to see them grow. They seem to be adding words to their vocabulary everyday! Anyway, the people I am tagging are Darce, Sue, Beth, and Natalie. Thanks, Jodie.

On another note, we have been playing catch up here. While Darce was here Andrew was in Europe for work for 10 long days. Then, Gavin woke up the night after Andrew got back with the stomach flu. It was so sad because he had no idea what was going on and looked at me as if to say, "Mommy, fix it!" That was Wed. night. Friday (Halloween) Andrew came home with the stomach bug. Drew had it Sat. and I had it Sunday. It was not the best of weekends. So, needless to say I feel so behind. So, here are some of the few pictures that I have from Halloween:

I know it is kind of hard to tell but of course they are frogs. Greene frogs. So where is my true love to turn me back into a prince?

Thanks for reading!

Busy Week

Before we went to the airport to pick up our guests, we went to a pumpkin patch with a mom's group. The boys played with some toys they had there, they walked a little in the hay bale maze, and took a hayride to pick our pumpkins. We also saw some farm animals they had there and had a sweet snack. The boys had a great time, but Mom was exhausted! Keeping up with the boys is tiring. They seem to be going in opposite directions most of the time now.
Straight from the pumpkin patch we went to pick up Aunt Darcy and cousin Adie. They overall had a great flight and were glad to be on land. We showed them around the house and let them adjust to the time change the first evening.
Tues. we went for a walk and kind of just hung out and Gavin and I went to my women's Bible study. Wednesday, we went shopping and to the mall in the morning and then just played around the house in the afternoon. Darce braved watching all 3 of them while I went to our small group. Thurs. morning we ran around again (Costco and Wal-mart). We had a babysitter lined up for Thurs. night so Darcy and I could go play bunco, but there was a propane leak so we were unable to play.
Friday morning we went to a gymnastics facility with another mom's group and the kids played. We then went out to dinner and hung out with some of my friends last night. Today we are just kicking back and taking it easy because there has not been a night where everyone slept all night. Last night was really bad for the Greene boys.
I need to add some of the pictures with the boys and Adie but it is going to have to wait because I need a nap. Darce put a new program on our computer and I am still trying to get the hang of it so, I don't know how to add any more pictures right now. We plan on going for a walk later at a park so maybe we can get some good ones there. Hope you have a great weekend and have had a great week. I know we have, it has gone so fast!
Never mind I figured it out and added pictures!

Hello, Grandma?

Thank you, Grandma, we love our phones! We talked on them for over an hour when Mommy gave them to us. She was able to make dinner without having to step over toys in the kitchen. Drew walks around talking on speaker phone while Gavin prefers the conventional way. Thank you so much! Now whenever Mommy gets on the phone so can we!

Grandma also got us some Vol outfits and we can finally fit in them, but we really did not want our picture taken. We were just not having it. (I think they knew the vols were not going to win). Maybe we will try again. It is funny they get so much attention around here in these bright orange outfits. It is not like in TN where everyone is sporting their obnoxious orange this time of year. It kind of stands out here.

The pictures are not that great but entertaining to go through. Can you think of a caption for these?

I thought of one for Drew's "How could I see that and the refs could not?"

Maybe one for Crompton (Is that how you spell it?) "This is a football, dude. You are playing Division 1, surely you can hand it off!"

I am sure you all can think of some better ones!

We have a busy schedule next week so I will hopefully have some pictures to post. Have a great week!

What's new?

We are trying to adapt to just one nap a day. Just when I think they have it, they fall asleep and mess up the rest of the day. I know that sounds a little too structured, but when you have two, you really rely on a break during the day and the only way that happens is if they nap at the same time. The boys are also working on some more teeth, so that too upsets everything. Gavin is working on a front tooth and a molar and Drew is working on like 2 molars. So, we have had some interrupted nights which also messes with their schedules. Enough about that. I should not complain because they are sleeping from about 8:00 at night until 7:00 in the morning and taking at least a two hour nap sometime during the day.

So, they get up around 7:00 and 7:30 if I am lucky. I try to run on Tues. and Thurs. so that gives me just enough time to get a shower before Andrew has to leave at 7. If I am lucky they will sleep until 7:30 and I can get Harper fed and get things ready for breakfast and get dressed while they still sleep. Then they have a sippy cup full of warm milk while I get their breakfast ready. They love french toast with butter, waffles, and just recently cereal. Sometimes I can get them to have some egg. That whole process and clean up takes about an hour. Then they get dressed and another diaper change (they usually have a dirty diaper at this time) and then we either clean, they play in their room, or we have to head out somewhere. They are really getting good at playing by themselves now, so sometimes I can sneak in some house work while they play. Gavin loves to play with hats and Drew loves to jump in the pictures now. I promise that is not dust on the end table it is a glare!

11:00 is time to start lunch. They are great eaters and except when their teeth are really bothering them they will eat pretty much whatever I put in front of them. They love PB &Jelly sandwiches, quesadillas, and yes, mac and cheese is still their favorite. These are just a few of our lunch favorites of course served with a veggie and a fruit. Then it is time for another diaper change and nap time around 12:30 or 1:00 if they have not fallen asleep earlier. Hopefully they will sleep for at least 2 hours. This gives me some time to get some things done and sometimes if I am lucky scrapbook. I am about to post the first page that I have sewn on and that I am actually liking.

I will have to go back and read some of Darcy's pointers on taking pictures of pages. The boys were just waking up from a nap when I finished, so this was the best I could do.

Then when they wake up it is hopefully after 3 so it is snack time. Okay, so this is what I am excited to share about. I know I am probably not the only one who uses this idea because I actually stole it from church. I help out in the nursery and I am always amazed at how well the kids do during snack time. So, I adapted it for our use. This is a picture of where I keep the snack blanket. Gavin when he hears the word snack goes to the closet. Drew followed because he loves to be in pictures.

I then give them their snacks in a little cup on the blanket. They know to stay seated on the blanket and if they get up snack is over. Ten, I just pull up the blanket and shake out the crumbs outside. It is great! The coolest part is I really didn't have to teach them anything, they learned it all at church!

After snack it is play time. Here they are sitting at their table and chairs that they got from Grandpa and Grandma Susie for their first birthday and I am just now posting them sitting at it. They love to play in their room.

After that, play time and I pray that time will pass quickly and Daddy comes home quickly. The boys eat and then we eat and then it is time to get them ready for bed. That is a day in our life. There are times when of course things change. Like today for instance we went and picked apples with a mom's group and now Gavin is sleeping and Drew is playing. So, everyday is definitely not the same. It is exciting to see them grow. Drew loves to say uh-oh and Gavin loves to say hi. It is amazing how much they pick up, they are little sponges. Gavin talks constantly and we are still trying to figure out what he is saying. Drew is becoming quite the climber and is still such a people person. Thanks for reading about us, I would love to read comments or suggestions of things that work for other moms. Have a great day!

The Beach- A Big Sandbox

When we were little Mom and Dad recorded us, yes with a cassette tape. This was long before the days of video cameras readily available and CDs. We enjoyed listening to them as we were growing up and Dad always threatened us with embarrassment by playing them for our friends. In one of the recordings, we had gone to the public beach at Milford (for those of you that don't know it is not much of a beach, but it was big to us). Dad asked Greg where we had gone that day and Greg referred to the beach as a "a big sandbox." That saying stuck in our family and anytime we talk about a beach we would then say a big sandbox.

The boys and I (all 3 of them) went to Cannon Beach, Oregon this weekend. It was the boys' first trip to the ocean and first time playing in any sand. I think they were a little over whelmed-at first. Drew loved the sand and the water and we had a hard time keeping him out of both. Gavin was not so sure he would just stand there and cry after he was in it for a while he would warm up to it but I had to be right there with him. He didn't like that he could not walk very well in it. The water he hated, but so did I because it was freezing! That did not stop Drew and Andrew. Andrew actually body surfed. I guess Drew did too but not on purpose.

This one of Drew was right before he got drenched. If you click on it to enlarge he is making his
mad face. He was not happy we were trying to keep him out of the waves. The other one of the three of us was typical of our beach time. Me holding Gavin and drew playing in the sand. At one point he was making sand angels face down. I guess that is one way to learn not to eat sand. Especially when you have a running nose. What a mess!


Isn't this a great picture of Gavin? That rock is called Haystack rock behind him. We had a great view of it from our hotel.

We had a great time and the boys were great despite all the sand and snot. Did I mention it was cold? We got a lot of great pictures that you may see some day in your mailbox, and a lot of others that I will have to hang on our wall. It helps when you have cute little models and a beautiful backdrop.

I started with a story about Greg so I will dedicate this picture to Greg. Yes, Uncle Greg I am looking at an airplane. I don't know how he learned how to do this, but he does it every time he hears one. We never showed him one or anything but he points now and looks for it every time.

Where did last week go?

Tuesday was a long day for the Greenes. I had a tooth extraction in the morning and of course they were running late. Andrew had 2 fillings in the afternoon and of course they were running late. So, Andrew and I were in some discomfort and so Andrew decided to cut his hair and while he was at it Gavin's. Poor Gavin has been called a girl three times now and Andrew was having nothing to do with that, not to mention his hair was getting a little out of control on top. So, he shaved it . . .

Before

and after

Daddy and Gavin with matching hairdos!

I have to admit it was hard to see his beautiful red hair falling, but I saved it for his first hair cut in his baby book. He was strutting around as we were telling him how handsome he looked and I noticed that our new patio furniture had some sharp corners. I should have gone with my mommy intuition. Not even five minutes after I had that thought he tripped and hit the corner just under his eye. It was like the Brayden fiasco all over. (He fell on Darcy's coffee table while I was home visiting in May and cut his eye in the same place and had to get some stitches.) He bled and cried, but only for a little while-his new hair cut must have made him tough. So, we packed up to go to a clinic just down the road. This was about 7 o'clock and we new the place was open until 8. So, we get there and I am a mess thinking about my poor baby's face and the possible scar and they tell us they just took their last patient. It is 7:15 aren't you open until 8? Yes, but we take our last patient at 7:15. Can you not see he is bleeding? So, they tell us that the emergency room has this new program yada yada yada. We get back in the car and Andrew insists we just go to Walgreens and fix it up ourselves. I am on pain killers and have not eaten since the morning and I am upset about my baby's face. We get the stuff and I am still not convinced we don't need to go to the emergency room. When we get home we agree to see our neighbor who is a physician's assistant and see what she thinks. Well, she says she has everything we need because her 2 year old just did something similar a couple of weeks ago, so she had brought some stuff home from the office. She fixed him up with Andrew's help-I had to go play with the kids because I was feeling a little queasy and needed another pain killer. So here is the after, the next morning.

The moral of the story is trust your mommy instinct and now we know about the 8 o'clock closing at 7:15 at all the clinics in the area. Something I will have to take a note of as the mom of 2 boys because I am sure we will be back! Also, neighbors are great-we have definitely had some great ones!

You may ask what is Drew up to? Well, Drew is Drew and that will just have to be anther post!

Sorry it is a little blurry. We are all healing and doing fine and it is Wednesday already of the next week! Where has the week gone?

Lil Vols

We are back home after a great trip to Tennessee. Andrew is starting them early at Neyland Stadium (Home of the Vol's football team for those of you that are not from TN). I know Drew looks like a thug here with his hat and band aide. I leave him alone with Daddy for 2 days and look what happens. Actually they both have bumps and bruises from learning how to walk-that is all they want to do now!

We had a great time with friends and family. It was a great trip. We got home and I realized this was the only picture we (Andrew) took.

We are finally back into the swing of things now and back on this time zone. Now we are wondering what are we going to do now that the Olympics are over. Well, the boys have answered that. They are everywhere. Drew has figured out that he can climb up on the couch now and get into things that I didn't think he could reach. Gavin loves pushing things. I don't know how many times he has re-arranged the chairs and bar stools in the kitchen. He also loves to push the stroller, we got some great footage of this with Michelle at the park but it takes so much memory to put video on I could put it on if I get enough requests, but I won't if I don't.

Anyway, I hear Gavin stirring upstairs so I guess I better get him a snack after his nap. I will try to take some more recent pictures, it seems like they are changing everyday! Thanks for reading!

Happy Birthday, Grandpa

We are walking! Well, kind of. We look like we have had a couple too many but we are doing it! We started on Grandpa Bean's birthday. Happy birthday, Grandpa. Wish we could show off in person but this will have to do. Thank you for watching. I will have to get some more footage of Gavin. They are walking just in time for our trip to TN!

Dog Days of Summer!

When Sandee (Grandma) was here a couple of weeks ago, we heard a strange noise upstairs while the boys were playing. I called for Harper and I heard a commotion and he would not come. I called again and I heard more noise, so I went up and investigated. This is what I found.

Needless to say he got caught in the "cookie jar". He loves paper towels and Kleenexes and apparently he got more than he bargained for. He was very confused because whenever he moved it would sway and he could not figure out how to get through the door.. Now that I think about it he has not tried to get anything out of that trashcan since this escapade.

Drew has had this fascination with getting in things lately. I have missed a couple of good photo opportunities of him getting in clothes baskets, laundry baskets, drawers, and boxes. One of his favorite places to get in is the drawer on the bottom of the oven. Well, he invited his buddy yesterday.

I don't know what it was yesterday, but they were everywhere together.

Yes, this is Gavin pushing his brother in the Hippo. Drew was sitting down and riding, but when I went to get the camera he stood up and rode it like a scooter.

Through the view finder of the camera I realized the gate was not up and they were playing with this right by the stairs. Rest assured the gate went up right after I snapped the photo. Their socks also came off for better traction.

I have two exciting pieces of news!

#1) The boys are walking or trying to walk. They love to hold on to our fingers and walk everywhere, but recently have let go. Drew has taken as many as 10 steps (well, running steps) and Gavin has decided he wants to learn to stand before he takes off. So he can get up without holding onto anything and then when he goes to take off he falls and then gets back up and does the whole routine again. So, I have a feeling they will be walking very soon and just in time for the other piece of news.

#2) The Greenes are heading to Tennessee! We will be arriving in Knoxville on Sat. the 9th of Aug. and driving to JC for a long weekend. So, we would love to see as many people as possible so email me if you would like to see us so we can set up a time and place. We are really excited to show off our handsome young men and see some friends we haven't seen the past year.

I think that about does it for now, if I figure out how to put videos on here, I will put on some great footage of the boys walking. Hope to hear from you soon!

Sleepless in Seattle

We made our first adventure to Seattle this past weekend. We had a really good time during the day, but two one year olds in a hotel room is not the most enjoyable in a getaway weekend. The boys were great during the day, they just didn't want to sleep because they were afraid they might miss something. It was sure nice to have Grandma with us for the extra set of hands.







I guess Gavin did a lot of sleeping when we were out and about so he ended up missing a lot. He slept at pretty much everywhere we went. So, most of our pictures are of Drew and then Gavin sleeping. Needless to say Drew has been pretty grumpy these past few days trying to catch up on sleep, but he got to see a lot. You can see the Space Needle in the background of the picture of Drew and I and the one of Andrew and I. We did get this one shot of Gavin awake and having fun with Daddy. This one is Drew practicing his walking with Grandma on the Pier. We were hoping the boys would start walking while she was here.

We walked a lot on Saturday. We walked along the waterfront. We walked to the Space Needle and then walked back and did some shopping along the way. We stopped at the Adidas store and the boys got a new soccer ball and I got a running skort. We headed back to the hotel for some swimming on the 26th story of our hotel, what a view!

On Sunday, we walked to the Pike Place Market and saw them throw some fish. The flowers were amazing! Drew liked the bronze pig that we took a picture with. He kept eyeing it every time we passed it. At least we did not have an Easter bunny incident. You can even see the fish in the background.Here is a picture of Andrew and the boys. Can you tell Gav just woke up? If you look closely you can see some of the beautiful bouquets.

We then went back to the hotel and packed up and drove to ride the Ducks. The boys and I had never been on one. It was a neat way to see the city and all that was on the water. Gavin slept, of course, but Drew had fun. We even saw the house that they filmed Sleepless in Seattle. It could be yours for only a couple million dollars, it just went on the market. This is another Duck we passed on the water.

- The Greenes, Grandma even got in this do-it-yourself photo. Of course Gavin is asleep. Drew just has his eyes closed.

We then went to a Trader Joe's and then headed home. I had to keep telling myself we live here- this is only 3 and a half hours away. It was a great weekend filled with a lot of memories.