And Christmas is Almost Over ....

We have had a wonderful holiday season! Since my last post, we have celebrated Thanksgiving and have almost finished up our Christmas celebrations! We have one more party to attend this coming weekend with my mom's side of the family, and the boys are so excited about it! They cannot believe how LONG Christmas is!

We have enjoyed spending time with our families and getting to celebrate! We have all had the best Christmas we can remember in quite a long time! It was just so much fun! The boys were so excited about Santa's arrival ... they were so much fun to watch on Christmas Eve morning (since Santa made a special trip to Nana and Papa's house) and Christmas Day (morning and afternoon .... Dzia Dzia and Bushi also had Santa make an additional stop)!

I will be sharing some photos soon. Everything has just been so hectic around here, it's hard to find the time to get on here .... pull the pictures off the camera and post.

The boys are definitely growing like crazy. Gavin is talking a lot more ... and he's even making short sentences. He has really taken to using the potty .... for number one exclusively though. When you ask him to try the other, he responds with a quick "No! All done ... " So, of course, we get off the potty and end up changing a diaper soon afterward. But, he is already making much bigger strides than Grant, but I'm sure that is because he soooo wants to be like his big brother!

Speaking of Grant ... he is getting a little better with his attitude. At least I have been able to sit him down and calm him easier than in the past. He still has some of his normal outbursts, but it's usually when he's tired. I'm sure I'll shoot myself for mentioning this ... but he has had a great couple of weeks at school -- even with Christmas approaching. He has had several very good days at school and has remained on Green for the majority of those days (which, of course, thrills me!). He is getting so tall! He is in a size 5 -- of course, the waist of this particular size is a tad large (thank God for those adjustable waist bands), but the length is just perfect! He's been complaining that his knees hurt lately, so I'm sure that means he will wake up in a couple of weeks and all the clothes he got for Christmas will be too short again! Whenever his joints start to hurt, he sprouts up in height!

Well, I should close now, but I did want to give a little update to anyone that reads this. I haven't forgotten about this blog .... I've just been so stinkin' busy! I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas, and I will try very hard to get photos of the boys up here as soon as possible!

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Safe and Happy New Year! We hope to see everyone soon!

A What?

So .... Todd and I are eating breakfast and here comes Grant pounding down the stairs ....

He has on this outfit ... The hat that was attached to his winter coat at one time, his safety goggles, and gloves. He asks me for his snow pants .... huh?!?!? He wants to put on his snow pants with the rest of this outfit ... oh, and he is going to add his Michigan knit hat to the mix and perhaps some snow boots too???

I get him his snow pants and he grabs his boots .... he adds the knit hat and what does he say he is??? This is good ... Grant is a NINJA! Yes ... a Ninja ... and I know that everyone has seen a Ninja dressed just like this ... all decked out and ready for any kind of weather! This kid has such and imagination ... I don't know what in the world we are going to do with him!

They Wanna Be Football Players!

Last year, my dad got Grant some football pads, a helmet and a jersey. Both Grant and Gavin LOVE to pretend that they are Michigan Football players. The boys were sharing the pads yesterday. We did have to take the helmet away for the time being because as soon as Grant puts that on, he turns into a tackling machine that just hits everyone and everything that gets in his way. But, in the meantime, both boys still like to put on the pads and mess around. And Grant says that someday he is going to be a football player too! Gavin ... well, he really has no clue what sport he wants to play when he gets older, but I'm sure that he'll side with Grant's decision. Gavin has to be like his big brother ... and he tries to do whatever Grant does. Sometimes it doesn't work out as well as he would like, but he sure does give it all he has!

Happy Halloween

What a fun time of year! The boys are all excited about going trick or treating and carving the "jack o lanterns" (as Grant calls them)! We had so much fun watching these little men with the pumpkins and out and about Trick or Treating. Grant was a Blue Power Ranger (and would tell you very quickly if you guessed it wrong), and Gavin was a Pirate. He was so cute! It was a tad windy so the pirate hat did have to stay at home .... But they had so much fun going house to house trick or treating. Grant even said "Trick or Treat" this year! Last year, he refused, however, this year, he led his baby brother from one house to the next teaching him the art of trick or treating! Here are a few photos of our pumpkin carving night and the boys in their costumes!

Our Fall Activities

This fall, we have been rather busy! We took the boys to the Cider Mill .... They had so much fun! They saw a lot of farm animals, had their first shot of FRESH Apple Cider and Apple Cider Donuts! They even had fun goofing around in their "pumpkin patch" (we didn't do the You Pick that day) and with the board cut-outs! We had a great time together as a family.

Grant and Gavin being a Black Cat (Grant) and a Scarecrow (Gavin). This one, I think was their favorite!

Here's our little honey bee (Gavin) visiting his hive (Grant)! This one wasn't too popular with Grant ... he didn't like being so low!

Here is the Grant Man looking closely at the pumpkins! He did find it fun to take rocks and sprinkle them around the stems of all the pumpkins .... And then he also liked to toss some of those stones (which wasn't so cute).

And here is Gavin .... browsing the pumpkins trying to figure out which one will look best on his front porch. He picked a few and piled them up across the path, but since this was soooo far before Halloween, we didn't buy any that day.

Grant's First Day of School

Grant started Pre-School this fall, and he was very excited! He got his new Spiderman backpack and Spiderman lunch box! This was a picture from his first day! The thought he was soooo cool! He absolutely LOVES it! He has been on a field trip to the Toledo Zoo and he has been able to see his "buddies". He looks forward to his two days a week! This month he's going to the Pumpkin Factory and having a Halloween party. Todd and I are even taking the boys to the Boo Zoo at the Detroit Zoo this year! We cannot wait!

Grant came home from his first day of school counting to 10 in Spanish! I was floored! He is such a sponge! He tells me so many little tid bits that he learns in class .... like, Kangaroos have Joeys ... it's so funny! He doesn't say it's a baby Kangaroo ... he calls it a JOEY!

He's growing up so fast! He even likes to watch his own little shows on the Disney Channel. He still likes his cartoons, but Bob the Builder is out of the picture and Transformers and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody are in! He's getting into shows that "teach" -- of course, he doesn't realize that he is actually learning ... he thinks they are just funny! But, he definitely repeats some of his lessons!

Our Little Men are so smart! I can't WAIT to see how they grow up! They are so amazing!

Our Boys Love the Beach

Our family went to Maine for our family vacation this summer. We went with Todd's parents (Nana and Papa) and had a great time! We had a few days at the beach -- which had me worried because Grant has been so "weird" about the water, and Gavin had never been in or seen such a large body of water. But, to our surprise, the boys absolutely LOVED the beach! They couldn't wait to go! We went to the beach every morning on the shuttle and the boys even enjoyed that ride!




The boys had a great time playing in the sand, running into the water waiting for the waves to come in and running back so the waves didn't get them. Grant pretended that he was "fighting" the waves and kicked the crap out of them! Splashing like crazy! Gavin liked to "cook" for Nana in the buckets full of sand and "taste" the sand on the shovel before serving it up! He was full of sand for a while. Grant liked to take walks with Papa and collect rocks and sea shells. Mommy and Daddy even found a whole clam shell for him to add to his collection while we were out trying to body surf!

After this vacation to Ogunquit, Todd and I definitely think that we will take the boys back there someday! I was truly amazed at how much fun they had, and really ... I can think of worse things we could do than spending the day on the beach in the sun with our boys! They had a blast and we had a blast watching them!

Our Lovely Boys ....

These two sure do look perfectly innocent and angelic ... don't they? Most often they are ... they can be the coolest thing around, but lately ... They are just frustrating!

Don't get me wrong, I love these boys like nothing else and I am very proud to be their mother. I do, however, get very frustrated with all the "testing" that both of them have now decided they are going to give to both Todd and myself.

Grant has always been a tester. He likes to see what he can do to change our minds regarding his punishment. If he throws a big enough tantrum, will we let him stay up for that extra half hour? If he tells us over and over that he doesn't like us, will we let him throw a ball in the house and try to hit the TV? If he throws all of the pillows in the house, will we allow him to allow him to "surf down the stairs" with the top of his basketball toy box? Lately, he's been testing a lot more frequently, but we really haven't given in much. Lately we have been really putting our feet down and keeping it there. He doesn't take too kindly to that.

Gavin, on the other hand, hasn't really ever tested us. But, watching Grant over these past 20 months has shown him that testing gets quite a reaction out of mommy and daddy, and he thinks that it looks like a lot of fun. Gavin has been starting to throw tantrums and has even started "talking back" a little. I can't really understand some of his back talk, but the look on his face tells me quite a bit -- he's mad! he's also trying to do things that he knows that he shouldn't be doing to see what kind of trouble he is going to get into.

The boys have definitely been spending a lot of time in their rooms "thinking" about what they've done wrong. We're trying a whole new regime to get these little boogers in line. We are trying rationalizing with them ... we are trying the "star" reward system - for every good thing they do, they earn a green star - that allows them to collect stars in order to do a fun thing at the end of the week. We do fun things throughout the week, but Grant has been known to choose an outing to Chuck E. Cheese for his special fun thing. This seems to work -- for the time being ... but, what in the world can two parents do that will stick?!?!

We really don't want to spank and yell at them constantly, but then again, time outs don't work either. Those are spent yelling and screaming at the mom and dad. They don't really "learn" anything from those. Gavin follows his brother's lead. I think if we can get to Grant ... Gavin will do by example. I don't think we can handle two little monsters!

This is just a quick little rant .... the boys are truly amazing little boys. We LOVE them dearly. We wouldn't trade them for anything and we are definitely amazed at their way of using their heads -- their way of thinking. At such young ages, they use their little minds in such ways that are truly amazing! They THINK! They can be a little mind boggling and frustrating, but they challenge everything and fight for what they want. They question everything and ask why. They see how far they can go ... they don't give up. I think these boys, being the challenge that they are, are going to grow up to be amazing boys!

Our Little Men ... Update

Since our last post, our little men have grown so much! Gavin is talking up a storm and Grant is getting ready for preschool in the fall. Mommy has also quit her job and is staying home with the boys! We are having so much fun together!

Gavin is starting to sit on the potty and Grant is showing him all the bad habits that he can think of. When you tell Gavin "No" he thinks the proper response is a nice little raspberry back! He doesn't take to kindly to be told no. Grant and Gavin chase each other around the house and play in their pool in the back yard!

I'm going to share a few photos of our growing little guys! I cannot believe how quickly time has gone by and how much these little guys change in a little amount of time!

The boys love to take baths together! They are getting into the swing of playing in the tub and having a good time clowning around! Here they are showing off the wonderful "dos" their hair allowed us to make before their most recent hair cut! They thought that it was so funny to soap it up and stand it on end! As soon as we bring out the camera, Gavin says "Cheese!" He's all ready to get his picture taken with a huge cheesy smile!

Since I'm staying home with the boys we decided to get a zoo membership. We took the boys to the zoo this summer and, of course, the animals weren't too busy entertaining...but the boys still had a great time! The zoo has done a really neat thing with the kangaroo habitat! You actually walk through it. There are ropes that border the walk way, but you can get quite close to the kangaroos. One of the kangaroos even had a Joey in her pouch and Grant thought that was really neat!

Grant and Gavin enjoy playing in their pool with one another too! Grant is a little dare-devil when it comes to doing much of anything -- he has used a block of wood to slide down a slide at day care (it was a skate board), he tried to use the top of his basketball toybox as a surf board down the stairs (thankfully I caught him!), and he figured out that adding his slide to the little pool made things just a little more interesting! He was having so much fun that Gavin had to try it himself! We had a harder time getting Gavin in from the pool than Grant! He thinks everything that Grant does is just so cool that he has to try everything -- exactly like Grant! They are so fun to watch!

We have a lot of fun playing outside -- just me and the boys! We play with sidewalk chalk, blow bubbles, play with the hose and go for walks. The boys have a great time and I love to watch everything they do! This afternoon the boys thought that it would be fun to have me draw themselves on the driveway! It was the oddest thing ... but it was really cute! I'm sure that the end result was a little disturbing to some people, but it was just too cute how cool they thought it was to have me trace them!

Here are a few other little photos of the boys doing other fun activities that they enjoy doing. I think that I am really going to enjoy staying home with them and watching them grow up and becoming little men! I was a little scared about it at first, but I am settling in quite well so far! Who knows, maybe I'll actually MISS WORK at some point, but I have yet to miss it -- I am having so much fun with the boys!

I hope that you have enjoyed seeing what our little men have been up to! They are grown so fast, and I am so lucky to have this time to spend with them! I am really thankful that Todd has given me the opportunity to stay home with our little men! I am so enjoying myself! I wish I would have done this sooner! For some reason, I thought that I would rather work than stay with our children -- WRONG!

So Much Has Happened Since I last posted ...

It has been so long since I last posted on this blog! We have been so busy with the boys ... so much has been going on. First off, Grant is going to be FOUR YEARS OLD tomorrow! I cannot believe it! It just seems like yesterday that we were bringing him home from the hospital ... and now, he is our big little man! He is definitely becoming quite the little helper with his brother (who, by the way, LOVES his big brother like crazy!). He knows how to make him laugh when he's sad, he plays well with him (as long as Gavin doesn't have a toy that Grant wants), and he has become very accepting of his little brother.

We have noticed a big difference in Gavin since he's had his tubes in his ears! He talks so much more, he is so happy, and best of all ... we haven't had ONE ear infection since (knock on wood!). He has had his first haircut. He had the cutest curls in the back of his head, but it was really getting long. You couldn't really notice it until you got his hair wet and the curls hung down passed his neck! I felt so bad letting them go like that, but I really loved those curls! They were so adorable and made him look so cute! But, we finally decided to take him to Bill the Butcher (the same barber Todd has been going to since college).

The tranformation was amazing! When he started cutting his hair, I started to see a new little BOY! He wasn't my little baby with the cute curls in the back any more. He was turning into a little boy! He was so handsome! I totally loved it once we had it done. And, of course, Bill gave me quite a bit of his hair for his scrapbook (which will eventually get put in there). Gavin did so well. He sat so nice while Bill cut his hair. He was quite a bit interested in all of the different things that he used to cut his hair, but he did move too much. And, when it was all done, he had his first sucker (a dum dum) which he LOVED!

We had a visit from the Easter Bunny as well ... and Gavin thought that was just amazing! He had a good time looking for eggs and his basket. When he saw his basket, a big "Whoa!" came out of his mouth! It was really cute! Gavin had his first Peep (which is all over his face in this picture) and he loved that too. He did have a hard time realizing that when you find an egg you can't crawl around with it. He did manage to smash one up pretty good, and he wasn't too thrilled about what happened to it when he was done. This one, though, he managed to give to daddy to add to all of the others that Grant found.

Grant had a very CARS Easter. He LOVES the movie and mommy (or, the Easter Bunny rather) spent a lot of time on Ebay trying to find him a bunch of the Matchbox size cars for his basket. He ended up with quite a few of them! His favorite was Chick Hicks. Then shortly after that, Mommy was able to find him his "Mr. The King" that he wanted so bad. That took the place of Chick for a little while, but Chick is back in his "place of honor". Grant had a great time looking for eggs as well! He did a very good job! He did have a couple of tricky ones, but he managed to find all of the eggs (with a little help from Gavin). When he came downstairs, it was almost like Christmas! He couldn't wait to look for the eggs and his basket! He and mommy dyed the eggs on Friday while we were home from work and day care. He made them all VERY bright! He even had some that he mixed in all the colors and they turned out really funky! But he was so proud of those eggs!

The boys have been absolutely amazing and we are having such a ball with them! I cannot wait to see what else comes our way!

Gavin's First Surgery

While I didn't get any photos of this joyous event .... Gavin did end up having his first surgery on Thursday, March 15, 2007! He did so well! I was a nervous wreck! We had to be there at 6:45 am for a 7:50 am surgery. Gavin was so unhappy about being confined to a little area once they took us from the waiting room! The doctor came around to see us, the anesthesiologist came and saw us and explained how they just give him enough sedation to make him stay still - it wears off really quickly - blah blah blah. And a nurse checked on us periodically. When it was Gavin's turn, two people that we hadn't met yet came by to take him. He was MORE than willing to go with them, but I wasn't real happy that the people that were actually going to come take my son away didn't introduce themselves! Todd and I went into the waiting room. I went to the bathroom, Todd went into the bathroom and before Todd came out, the doctor was sitting with me telling me that Gavin was done! It was UNBELIEVABLE! I couldn't believe how fast everything went! I think we figured it was a total of 8 minutes from the time we left the room until they came to get us! But he is soooo much happier. He did manage to get another double ear infection from the time we saw the ENT and decided to do the tubes and the actual surgery, but that went away before he had to have the tubes in. He sleeps better ... he has started trying to say more words (now that could all be a coincidence, but who knows ... ) and he smiles so much! I cannot believe it! I'm very happy we did this!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GAVIN!

Our Little Man, Gavin, turned One year old on February 10th! I cannot believe it! Time is flying by so darn fast!

We had a wonderful party for Gavin on his birthday with a lot of family and close friends! My parents let us have the party at their house, thankfully, so there was plenty of room for everyone. My cousin, Wendy, my Czia Czia (spelling totally unsure of) Di, my mom and mom-in-law helped out with the food - thankfully - so the planning was pretty much a breeze! I don't know what I would do without all of their help! They always come through for me when I need them!

This was Our Little Man's birthday cake! Grant was a big help in assisting with the choosing of the cake. We tried to keep Grant as involved as we could in the planning to avoid any kind of jealousy when the party came around. He did very well....don't you think??

Gavin sure enjoyed the taste of his very own cake too! He had so much fun with that! At first, he wasn't really sure what to do. So, Daddy put a little bit of cake on his finger and Gavin had his first taste. From then on ... he just took his whole hand and filled his fist with cake and frosting! It was so much fun to watch him eat that cake and have no care in the world about all the people around him without any cake!

Everyone was so generous with their gifts and we enjoyed having everyone there to help celebrate Our Little Man's first birthday!

GAVIN STATS: We took Gavin for his one year check-up and he weighed in at 25 pounds 8 1/2 ounces and was 31 1/2 inches long! He is in the 90th percentile for both and well proportioned! Gavin does have chronic ear infections and one that hasn't gone away with the latest round of antibiotics. The doctor prescribed a stronger antibiotic that worked on one ear, but hasn't on the other just yet (he still has five days on that one). She suggested Gavin see an ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat doctor) for tubes. I am very upset by this. I know that it will make him happy and keep the ear infections at bay, but yet, this is surgery ... he is only a year old! It scares me very much. I know that it's common and I understand that it's best for Gavin, but I was really hoping he would grow out of it just like Grant did. I just hope that if he does need the tubes, the ENT gives me enough information to make me feel better about this procedure.

Overall, though, Gavin is a very happy and healthy baby boy! We are so happy to see that smile on his face every day!

On the Grant front ... he no longer wears Pull Ups and he is doing a really good job with going poopy on the potty! He has gone through a couple of sidetracks, but he makes his way back to the right track and has a positive attitude about it! He is also doing very well at school. He is behaving very well, and is even quite helpful to the teacher! We are very proud of him!

I'm going to attempt to update the Flickr account with this post as well. I have so many other great pictures from Gavin's birthday! Be sure to check it out!

Holy Cow .... I cannot believe how long it's been!

Man ... It sure has been quite a long time since I have sat down to jot down a few words about Our Little Men! There really has been quite a bit going on around here since my last post. But, I'll share a couple of stories ...


Let's see .... Grant is still trying to poopy on the potty, but he actually gets up on there and tries. He isn't always successful (and really quite rarely is) ... but he's gotten to the point where it's OK to try. This is driving me nuts since he is going to be FOUR...yes, FOUR in May. The pediatrician tells me, though, that I cannot push him. He is testing me ... it's a power struggle with him, and that is what he can control. Supposedly, if I don't act like it's a big deal, he's supposed to decide that he wants to do this. So, I'm trying to be patient (and, as many of you know ... that is very difficult for me).

Grant also had the best time at Christmas! He really got it this year, and it was so cool to watch him come down the stair and see that Santa had come! The tree was loaded with presents and he couldn't wait to dig in and open EVERYTHING! I don't think anyone but Grant opened presents! He was done with his faster than I could even imagine, and he was more than willing to help everyone else with theirs ... even Jackson!

Grant has been behaving much better at home and at day care. He is becoming more helpful with cleaning things up and he is beginning to like his brother a little bit. He does use him as the blame for a lot of things he does ... but we know better than that. "Maybe .... Gavin did it."

Gavin took his first steps the day after Christmas. He has taken up to five at a time, and he is getting to be more courageous. He is trying to go from one place to the next walking ... and he's even held my fingers and walked with me. He does crawl a bit faster than he walks, so I think that is why he isn't just taking off running. He'll get there though!

Gavin has also been experiencing a TON of different foods. He LOVES to eat! He just can't get enough of his "big boy" food! I am not quite sure what his favorite is, but he loves to eat anything that you give him. He tries everything and seems to enjoy it all! All the cute noises he makes while he is eating are so funny! I suppose that might explain why he is 26 pounds (at least on our scale) already and he isn't even a year old!

Gavin also experienced his first Christmas! It was so much fun! We had decided that we weren't going to go too crazy since it was his first Christmas and he wouldn't realize what was going on ... but that is easier said than done! He, too, had a ton of gifts and stocking stuffers. He was able to open a couple of items before Grant took over, but he was more interested in the paper and tissue paper than anything else. Every piece he could find went into his mouth!


Todd's mom and dad took us to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena for Christmas. While we were there we were able to meet up with Uncle Ray and Aunt Donna for brunch at this awesome restaurant, Orange Hill Restaurant, with a great view! It was so nice to see them! This was the first time that Todd had gotten to meet my Uncle Ray! We don't get to see them very often so I'm glad that they were able to meet us for brunch to visit for a little bit. I may be heading out that way for work in the near future, so perhaps I'll get to meet up with them again! We love you Uncle Ray and Aunt Donna!

We had a really good time at the game as well! It was my first trip to the Rose Bowl, and it was pretty exciting. The games outcome wasn't particularly thrilling, but the experience was really neat! There were so many activities that we went to, so many places we got to see, and we even got to hang with one of the players' family! We went to a Pep Rally, the Rose Parade, and participated in a Michigan Alumni tailgate! It was a wonderful trip! Thank You, Nana and Papa!

My mom and dad were nice enough to watch the boys for us while we were gone! They were both very under the weather, but still managed with both boys and even seemed to recoup a little with them there. We really are thankful they were able to watch them so that we could go to the game. Thank you, Dzia Dzia and Bushi!

Well, those were a couple of highlights since the last post. I know that there has been quite a few more ... But ... that's enough for now. I sure hope that I'm able to catch up a lot more frequently in the future! I sure miss jotting these fun little stories about the boys!