Shoplifting, Snakes, and Other *not so* Important Matters

Nathan and Logan are constantly working on their sharing skills. They switch toys and pacifiers very often, and sometimes the transaction occurs without incident. The rest of the time, well, you can imagine the angry baby fussing that happens. What's happening here, is that I am raising thieves. In fact, one twin, despite his young age, innocent appearance, and perfect upbringing, is officially a shoplifter. Yes, little Logan stole a brown and tan striped dinosaur T-shirt from the Carter's outlet on Thursday. You can only imagine the horror and disappointment this Mama had when I discovered that Logan had hidden this shirt in the stroller, behind his back. When I unloaded the stroller and found the shirt, I hurried back into the store, apologized on his behalf, and paid for it. Logan was lucky that the nice lady, who had earlier commented on his cuteness (not knowing, of course, what he was up to), did not call the police. Whew! Logan, that was a close one.

I heard the Rollei Snake Bark the other day. Now, sometimes this bark is really just a Stink Bug Bark/Bird Bark/I'm a Beagle Bark. We keep a hoe by the back door, so I grabbed it on my way to find the stink bug. Since Rollei has been bitten by copperheads 3 times (and each one costs us a small fortune in Vet fees), we usually run to make sure it's not a snake. Well, I'm glad I checked, because, sure enough, we found a stinker that looked a lot like this curled up by the fence, and posed to strike!

(Photo from Google Images.)

Todd hurried out, took the hoe from me, and chopped his head off. That's what we do with snakes around here. We chop their heads off, and throw them over the fence to warn the others.

I mentioned in the 9 month post that Nathan likes to get into Rollei's water bowl. Here's some pictures and a short video to prove it... We finally put up gates. We have some more baby proofing to do. We especially need to block off the (*ahem*) fireplace.

We got to attend another special event at Aunt Paula and Uncle Mike's beautiful home on Friday. We had a great time celebrating your birthday, Uncle Mike! :-)

Party Animals!!!

9 Months Old!

Here are the twins -- 9 months old! SLOW DOWN!!!

Here's what's going on with both of the boys this month:

• They eat 3 meals and one snack a day.

• They wear size 12 month clothes, but will need 18 month soon.

• They wear size 3 diapers.

• They are both on the move! Watch out, Rollei!

• They love to pull up the edge of their play mat and chew on it or use it as a whip.

• They are so much fun!!!
  

Logan

Stats:

23 lb., 2 oz. - 80th percentile
30 in. long - 90th percentile
46 1/2 cm. head circumference - 75th percentile

Logan is still the more subdued of the two. He is talking more now, with his favorite 'word' being "ooowww" like he's hurting (but he's not). He still has perfect form to crawl and if finally moving forward. He likes to laugh at his brother and is easily entertained by Rollei. He likes Baby Einstein videos, but, as a rule, I only let them watch one video a day. (Guesses as to why?!?) His hair is getting long and unruly. He likes to play with his toys, but has recently been drawn to the stacking cups and things with strings. He studies his surroundings. His fine motor skills are becoming more developed and he is getting better at picking up and putting his cereal puffs in his mouth. He is a good eater, but has decided that he likes to blow raspberries -a lot - when we give him a bite. Fun for him; not so much for us. We haven't been working on this much, but he PULLED UP on his own first! When it's time to sleep, I will rock him for a few minutes to see that he will close his eyes and act sleepy, then I put him in his bed and he will generally go right to sleep on his own. At this moment, he has 2 teeth on the bottom and one that is about to cut on the top. Logan is laid back, happy, not a big cuddler, loves to give big kisses, and is oh so sweet!

NathanStats:

21 lb., 13 3/4 oz. - 75th percentile
29 1/2 in. - 90th percentile
46 1/2 cm. head circumference - 75th percentile

The best way I know to describe Nathan is 'a spaz'! This is what we went through to get a picture of him. It's also the reason his alone picture was taken in my lap.

Nathan is our go-getter. He is always on the move, and quick, at that. He has a great army-type crawl. We have to really watch out or we will find him in Rollei's water bowl, trying to go out Rollei's door, or down the hall in our bedroom! He pretty much does everything with gusto. He also is very entertained by Rollei. Rollei moves whenever he sees either of the boys reach out to 'pet' him. Nathan has figured out that if he waves a burp rag in Rollei's face, he will try to take it from him and 'play'. This really tickles Nathan and he'll just laugh and laugh! Another game Nathan likes to play is throwing things on the ground to get us to pick it up over and over. I know this is developmental, but it funny to see the interest he gets out of it. Like his brother, he also blows raspberries when we give him bites, and he does the same 'go to sleep' routine as Logan. Nathan likes to practice walking. When he is held, he's a major clinger. He'll hold on and hug so tight! At the moment, he has 5 teeth; 2 on bottom, 3 on top, and he likes to bite my neck when I hold him. Nathan is a big smiler, full of energy and spunk, and a precious little guy.

And now for some more pictures...

Todd on Father's Day!
Father's day: Todd & Logan
Nathan practicing walking with Mommy.
Wednesday night dinner with Mom & Dad (We love Los Vega!) Update on Dad coming soon!
We got to meet our friends', Grean and Jay's new baby boy, Everett. Oh my goodness, is he not just precious?! And doesn't Geran look great? (I looked like, well, not at all great after the boys!) Congratulations!!

Another First: Swimming

The boys loved swimming today! They splashed, kicked, and floated like little champs. They also liked to lunge forward to suck on the float and try to drink the water...oops.

Nathan smiled and babbled the whole time. Such an excited little boy having a fun time!

Logan had fun, too, but he got tired really fast. He kept trying to nod off. It was really funny and cute.
We got them home by snack time, 4:00, and they were soooo tired. We bathed them really fast then fed them their bottles. Logan drank his bottle with his eyes closed. Swimming leads to a great afternoon nap!

Protestant Efficiency

Look what we found when we brought the boys home from church tonight!

(Logan. And would you look at that chubby belly, too?! Cute.)

What a cute surprise. I love it!!!

I also love that the boys get to go to Bible Class on Wednesday nights. It's not just nursery; they have lesson time, and their teacher is AMAZING! :-)

Some Progress And A Great Find

A couple of projects on our list have been completed.

First, the deck. Todd added railing for the boys' safety. It took him a few days to finish. I stained it.
I painted our front door. Not a big job, but it took 3 coats (one was primer), and since it was high gloss paint and high humidity, it took 2 days. It was the same color as the siding. So much more welcoming now, huh? (Not really.... But I like the dark brown better.)
The Frugal Novice had a link to the Healthy Home Blog for a giveaway for a $50 gift card to Family Dollar. I rarely shop there, but thought I would check it out. Turns out, Family Dollar has a new clothing line for children called Kidgets. I entered the giveaway, and I printed the $1 off coupons for the clothes. (I printed 4; should have printed more.) So, I stopped by FD today, on the way home from lunch out with friends, and found many cute outfits for the boys. Some of them are 3-piece, and every outfit was $6 or under! I got 2 of each outfit, but now we have more khaki shorts than we really need. Oh well. I feel like I did pretty good.

Summer = Projects

We have so many little projects that need to be worked on at the house. We are chipping away at the list, but things are happening more slowly than usual with our 'little distractions'. I'm the type that wants to get all the work done, then have fun. I don't want to worry about what needs to be done at home while I'm supposed to be enjoying fun times out of the house. I'm afraid, though, that we'll spend so many days accomplishing our work that we will not have enough summer days to enjoy the things we really want to do, like go to Galveston, spend days at the pool, go on picnics, go bowling, etc.
All of that being said, stay tuned for reports on the little projects that are being done!

Their Granddad

We invited Todd's dad over for supper tonight.
Todd grilled some hamburgers, and we had a great time just eatin', chattin', & chillin'.
Nathan & Logan loved being loved on by Granddad!!!
It's strange that we actually live rather close to their Granddad and Kay, but our lives are so busy that we rarely get together. So, seeing Granddad tonight was a real treat! :-)
And now a cute picture of Nathan from yesterday. He likes to take the edge off of their play mat and use it as a chewey, or in this case, a whip! Ha!
***Sorry about the red eye... I forgot to edit before uploading the pics.

Going Backward

Logan has his crawling position down pat.
He rocks on his hands and knees, and tries to move forward.
But, he doesn't know to move his hands, so he just pushes himself backward.
So, after crawling backward for a while, he inevitably gets stuck somewhere.
He's starting to move forward a little more, recently. He'll get there!

Since we're talking about Logan...
He's working really hard on getting that second tooth through. Major chewing, drooling, and fussing going on! He's also a little congested with a cough and icky nose. But, he's still smiling and giggling big! :-)

Remembrance & Celebration

Last weekend was very busy with family events.Every year, Dad's side of the family has a day of remembrance for Grandpa & Grandma. We met in Rosenberg to eat at Larry's Original Mexican Restaurant. We tried to feed the boys their lunch, but that did not go very smoothly. I think they were too distracted. After eating, we quickly stopped by the courthouse where Grandma worked when she first met Grandpa. Next, we visited the cemetery. The boys were asleep in the car at this point, so we didn't bother getting them out. Last, we went to the family farm. We flew kites, played horseshoes and card games, swung on a horse tire swing, and just relaxed on the covered slab. It was a pretty warm day, but Aunt Pat took extra strides to keep us cool by providing the awning over the slab, fans, drinks, and snacks. Actually, I'm sure everybody brought different things to provide for the comfort and enjoyment of others. Thanks, family, for a great day!That's a silly face, Nathan!

Sunday was a day of celebration! Aunt Paula hosted (in her beautiful home) a 40th anniversary party for my mom and dad. (BIG THANK YOU, Paula!!) It was a great day. They had a nice turnout of many special friends and family. Todd was sick and could not be at the party and I didn't do a good job of taking pictures. The boys were passed around and loved every minute of it, I'm sure. Nathan found rest in the arms of another mommy-of-twins, cousin Ann.

(Click on picture to enlarge.)

I am so inspired by Mom & Dad's commitment to each other. Marriage is a blessing with many joyous times and trying times, too. They have displayed a great example of love and marriage to me and Todd. Congratulations on 40 years!

** Hopefully I can find the time to do another blog soon. So busy around here! (And it's not the Droid's fault, Grandma! :-)