Ewan's Birthday Playdate

Today Ewan had a playdate with his buddies to celebrate his first birthday!  My little baby is already nearly one...time flies so quickly!  Jack and Ewan both had a great time, as did all the other kiddos.  They must have run a couple miles running laps around the house!!  Ewan enjoyed his cake...banana with chocolate filling and buttercream frosting.  I'm exhausted!!

Terrible Twos

Lately Jack has been VERY GOOD...at being a terrible two year old!  So translation...he's been very obnoxious.  Sunday was his first horrible day.  He was an absolute devil all day.  I was still trying to get my energy back, and what little I had he completely drained.  It's hard to remember everything he did, but I do recall it all starting with him running into the fresh dirt added to the herb garden.  It didn't get much better after that!  And Josh was gone that morning so it was all on me.

He's continues to disobey us constantly...and with a smirk on his face.  He is also regressing in his potty training.  We're not sure what is up with all this.  Put him in timeout and he pees.  Or he'll just pee for no reason and not even tell us he did it. 

Yesterday he ran off at the park.  I had my eye on him, turned for a minute and he was off.  We all spread out and found him getting ready to walk the streets of a nearby neighborhood.  Jack the roamer.  Needless to say he got a lecture, but I'm sure given the chance he'll do it again.  He is a challenge right now.  But he's our boy and still as adorable as ever!!

Ewan, on the other hand, is great.  He is walking more and more.  He still crawls, but most of the time in the house he walks.  He is adjusting to wearing shoes outside and the uneven terrain on the grass so he's wobbly out there!  He is our dashing little guy!  Quite the smile on that boy!!!

I'm still getting my energy back, but at least I have enough energy to get out in the morning again.  Cosmo is VERY thankful for that!  I'm also busy getting ready for Ewan's birthday.  He's got a playdate/party with his friends here on Friday.  We'll definitely have to post pics from that.  I'm sure both boys will have quite a fun time.  Then Sunday we'll just have a "quiet" dinner with Oma and Opa at Village Idiot.  We all like their pizza!

We're also busy getting ready for Thanksgiving and then Christmas is right after that.  Still trying to come up with activities for when Grandma and Grandpa come.  Every time Jack hears us say their names he recognizes is and repeats their names.  I'm sure he remembers them and looks forward to their visit.  Hopefully the boys won't wear them, or us, out!!!  Better yet, stay out of the tree.  I haven't figured that issue out just yet!!!

Fall Fun

Today we managed to get outside and enjoy a beautiful afternoon of fall weather.  The boys had a blast...their grass/dirt stained jeans certainly prove it!!

Oma Rocks!!

Oma is our hero today!!!  This morning I called the doc's office when they opened at 8:30 and the only appt I could get was for 9.  Well needless to say it was a stretch with only 25 minutes to get downtown and the boys were still in their pjs!  I called Oma and luckily she would meet us at the office.  I ran upstairs, brushed my teeth, got Jack to potty, put everyone's shoes on and we were out the door.

How hectic is that?! We got to the office with a couple minutes to spare.  Oma was still in her workout clothes!  She took the boys back home and I had my appt.  Needless to say the doc was surprised to see me again...I just had my physical last week (which by the way I passed with flying colors, cholesterol down 24 pts from last time).  Nothing major, just a sinus infection.  But it is definitely enough to be bothersome.  My head feels like it is going to explode and my energy level is low, not helpful when you have two little guys FULL of energy!!  Last night Jack ran laps in the house with Daddy.  We're all going stir crazy being stuck at home.

We ran out to lunch with Oma and then to Target today.  We just had to get out of the house!!  Cosmo is going crazy too....I have't taken her jogging or walking since Monday AM.  We could all use some outdoor time.  Hopefully I'll be up to it very soon.  Besides, I've got way too much stuff to do!!

Thanks again Oma.  We can ALWAYS count on you!!!

Random Tidbits

No photos today, need to catch up on that.  So we'll just go over random happenings of the past week or so.  Ewan is starting to test himself more and more every day.  He is now up to walking all the way across a room.  He will even turn around and go back for something if he gets distracted.  He should definitely be an official walking boy by his first birthday.

Jack continues to be full of energy.  He has been relatively good since he got his reward board for his birthday.  He looks forward to getting his stars for good behavior!  He has been a handful at mealtime lately though!

My "little" guys are growing way too fast!  We'll have stats soon enough...need to get their one and two year checkups in a couple weeks.  Where does the time go?!

The boys are not cooperating right now either....I've been sick and they have been full of it!!  No rest for Mommy around here!  I guess the good thing is that they have not gotten sick too.  We're thankful for that.

The boys both enjoyed Halloween.  Our neighborhood had a parade which we all enjoyed.  Jack liked the firetruck there!  We had to do a last minute costume change....for other events they were pirates, but Halloween was rather warm here so we changed Ewan to a farmer and Jack to an old man so they could wear short sleeves!  We did not go trick-or-treating.  The boys don't need candy just yet!  Jack enjoyed handing out candy though, giving extra to his new cute girl neighbor!!  Now when he sees the basket of leftover candy he says "trick treat me"!!  He wants his share of goodies too!!!  If he is actually good, which right now is random, he gets a bite.

Otherwise it's pretty much status quo here.  We're starting to get ready for Ewan's birthday.  This weekend I think I'll bake cookies....he is going to have a two tiered cake for his birthday playdate with animal cookies on the sides of the cake.  Then for his family celebration at Thanksgiving he's going to have a polka dot cake.  So we're busy with birthday AND Thanksgiving preparations here.  We look forward to seeing everyone soon enough.

The boys also look forward to seeing Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas.  This is the first time ever they'll be down here at the holidays.  The boys are trying to decide what fun activities to plan!!  Mommy is busy trying to figure out how to keep them out of the tree this year!!!!

Country Adventures

Yesterday we had a great time with our playgroup...it was a family outing at Country Adventures.  It's a nearby petting-zoo/hay ride/weenie roast/roasted marshmallow place.  It's basically a family "farm" that is open to groups for outings.  We've been there before, but the weather was much better this time and the fall setting was perfect.  Both boys had a great time...Jack liked the tractors more than the animals!  Ewan really wanted to get down on the ground and get dirty...things will be much easier when he finally starts to walk!!

Autumn in the Mountains

We just had a wonderful weekend up in the mountains.  We left Friday after Josh got home from work and hoped for the best...Jack's first road trip as a potty trained boy!  And all went well, no accidents, YEAH!!  When we arrived at the Deuce Friday evening it was cold and raining.  The boys enjoyed a fire in the fireplace, we kept busy keeping them away from it!!  Jack was actually pretty good, saying "hot" and telling Ewan to stay away!  Jack recognized where he was too, he kept asking where Oma was since it was her house!  Every now and then he would go look for her!

This time around the boys slept well up there too.  I think they finally recognize the house and feel at home there.  Great for us!  Satuday morning we drove through the state forest and got on the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Unfortunatley it closed!  So we found another way and eventually got to Asheville....without any accidents for Jack!!  We went downtown and roamed around a little, enjoyed a yummy Thai lunch and Josh had fun at the high gravity beer store!  Then it was off to the corn maze. 

After giving Ewan his bottle and Jack staring at the dirt bikes we finally were off to the maze.  They have a 2 mile, 1 mile and kiddie maze.  We only did the kiddie maze...all we could handle with both boys.  We managed to come out with very little mud and everyone had fun.  The boys loved the toddler hay maze even more.  We let Ewan lose and he LOVED it....crawling through the paths and up and over the hay.  Jack loved watching the bigger kids and exploring.

Sunday morning we went for a hike.  The temp was great....in the upper 30s.  Finally not too hot to hike with two kiddos!!  Jack was on his own, no laziness this time around!!  Ewan was in the carrier with Josh.  I was in charge of Jack...helping him up the log steps and minimizing his time in the mud!  He did extremely well.  It was mostly and uphill hike and then back down.  Cosmo had fun too. 

Then Sunday afternoon it was off to home again. It was probably the most relaxing time we could have had with the kids in the mountains. They were both pretty good and everyone had fun!!!  Thanks Oma and Opa for letting us use the house!!  It's the perfect getaway for us since they have everything we need for the kids up there...booster seats, a crib, toys, kiddo dishes...  Makes life easier!

Jack running in the corn maze.

Jack posing at the maze entrance.

Ewan LOVING the hay!!

Is there something up my nose?!

Big boy hiker!

Family hike.