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!