Updates...

The boys are doing awesome! :D

Matt is currently in a growth spurt and is about 75th percentile all across the board. He's so tall and skinny it makes my heart ache.....mostly wondering what happened to my perfectly chubby-dimpled baby boy?!

Josh is plumping up (the precursor for his growth spurt) nicely, and is growing so quickly that I feel like I have to hang on to something....for fear they'll spring up as mid-life adults before my very eyes - especially if I blink!

Both boys had their birthdays....they did so well! We had family over for them to see and play with - much cake and ice cream was consumed, and as mentioned before I'm sure - I've downloaded the pictures from my camera to the computer, only I can't get them to download to this website! ARGH!

So, please believe me when I say they are growing and healthy and thriving! :D

And one of these days I'm actually going to drag my brother-in-law down from his comfy-cozy home and have him fix all that is wrong with my computer!!! :P

Joshua is now attending pre-school with his brother - and he LOVES it. He does so good - he made me cry a little his first day - he didn't want to go without Mommy - on the bus - but brother Matt helped him through it and he came home wearing the biggest smile!!! :D I LOVE THAT!

And now I'm left twice a week - wondering what to do with myself for those 3 hours?

Nap? Shop? Run?

Still not sure, but I'm looking forward to the adventures I'm sure I'll have - trying to fill the gap while my boys' are at school.

Hope your holiday season is one full of gratitude and merriment!

Picture Updates of the BOYS!!!

Here are some updated pictures of the boys!! :D As you can tell, they are getting sooooo big!

Matthew is 3 1/2 now - a very precocious 3 1/2 I might add...!

Some new info....we're currently having the boys tested by the county - we've had just a few incidents with Matthew - that we're trying to help meet his needs for learning and development. He's recently shown some anger/aggression/frustration in response to some of his peers - and family - enough that we're trying to find ways to help him cope with the world around him - so he'll be better prepared once he's of age to enter kindergarten.


Joshua will be tested by the county as well - for speech. Although he speaks very well for a 2 1/2 year old boy - he speaks (at most) 2-3 words at a time. He will repeat what you say - but only the last 1-2 words of what you say. His pediatrican says his hearing is fine, but we'll know for sure after the second phase of testing, July 7th.

The boys are growing like weeds!!! Most of our summer days are spent outside, if we can help it!! Matt is fast approaching the no-nap phase - which makes me so sad! No more 'Me' time! LOL. Our days are spent in the family garden, which has phased from a place to try and grow plants, into a full blown dirt pit for Tonka Trucks & Haulers. LOL. I may not grow vegetables, but it looks like Tonka has sprung out of the ground! :P

Other parts of our day are spent going for walks to the park, up to cousin's house to play, ride bikes, swim in their pool, run through our sprinkler, swing and slide on our playhouse and wrestle with Mommy and Daddy complete with declarations of "You're goin' down!" Very, very cute when coming from our blonde dandy and little brown boy....!

Both boys are 'firecrackers'....you never know what they're going to say - or how they plan on saying it...Matt's logic is infallible, if a little misguided.

Mom: Matty, lets change your diaper son. Get up on the couch, please. (thinking this will be slightly more comfortable than the hard floor)

Matt: No, Mommy! I can't! Not on the couch!

Mom: Whyever not?!

Matt: If I get up on the couch, I'll roll off! If I roll off, I'll fall on the toy! If I fall on the toy, I'll cut my pee-pee off! And if I cut my pee-pee off, I'll be a girl!

I don't wanna be a girl, Mommy!!!

Can't fault logic like that!

Matt is still extremely loving with his brother - when he's not pushing him down the slide, "tagging" him (pushing extra hard to let brother know he's 'it'), or dragging him around and making him do what he wants to do and play what he wants to play.

LOL.

So, needless to say, he's a normal, fairly well-adjusted, older brother....

Joshua is a pip! His favorite thing in the world is gum. Chewing gum. The only problem is, he chews it for 2-4 minutes, swallows it and then throws the worlds hugest tantrum to try and get another piece of gum.

I hate to admit it, but there are select times when I give in. Namely public places, that require a little more decorum, but other than that, it's a pretty hard, fast line of 2 pieces per day. We're working on the communication barrier of why gum's not good for our tummies.

Both boys are absolutely 100% Daddy's Boys. I'm only needed for kissing cuts, scrapes, bruises, making snacks and lunches, tucking them into bed and singing lullabies. :D

These boys are real Boys' Boys.

Though they both have the sweetest, most tender hearts....!

Joshua cried during Little Einsteins - Melody the Music Pet - when she had to get on the pet train ('cuz I'm sure you wanted to know the in's and out's of the storyline...lol) and could not be comforted. He kept crying, wanting me to hold him and he just kept repeating over and over again...

"Sad. Sad."

It took ten minutes, including three rewinds - to convince Josh that all was well in the Einstein's world. At least enough so, that we could all go to bed!

Life is challenging raising these boys, I have to admit! There are days they give me a complete and total run for my money....like the curious incidents of the fridge being broken into (there are 3 child locks on there - that the boys either 'muscle' their way into - or in Matt's case - undo!) and added incidents of more eggs being broken through the house, soy sauce on the stairs and through out the house (just follow the puddles....! It was a Costco size bottle!) Adding dirty diapers to the washing machine - 'cuz they wanted to get them clean - cooking oil on my piano and the coffee tables and all over the hardwood floors....you name the mess, or the ingredients, and they can come up with several hundred different ways to 'create' a mess. LOL.

All in all, I still wouldn't trade them for the world!!! :D It's been my greatest reward to see Matthew say the blessing and prayer, during family night and every other night - to talk with him and Josh about Jesus, to teach them to be kind and loving, and to love them so much - and see that love reciprocated in every look, every touch - every breath I see them breathe, as I watch them sleep at night....

They are such a joy. Their faces say it all when they light up as they see us walk into the room.

And I'm just so overwhelmed and overjoyed, that we get to be their teachers and parents through this rollercoaster ride of life. :D

Hope you enjoy the pictures....a friend of mine took them, so she could practice her craft. She's an amateur photographer - and I must say, she did an excellent job! :D

We'll have some family photos taken here pretty soon - the boys' Uncle David is preparing to leave for a church mission to Brazil....and it'll be our last opportunity to have the whole family appear in one photo - for about 2 years. :D

I'll try to be better about posting - but I can't promise anything - as Tonka gardening takes up a lot of time. LOL.

Much love to you and yours....

Liz, Stann, Matt & Josh

Updates....for January 2009

So, really, nothing much has happened that's new....

It's just an update more of "old" stuff.

Josh's vocabulary is really getting big! He can now use "ME" and point to himself, in the correct context. It's pretty dang amazing. He also is quite the climber - and no longer needs a stool...he can pull himself up all by himself with his amazingly strong upper body!

Also...

This last week he made Stann and I do a double take. He gave us a look - a smile - that was an exact replica of Dave H.'s....aka Papa. No joke!

He's also becoming quite the ham! He's figured out he has an audience everytime he makes a face...so he's been experimenting...A LOT!

As for "Senior"....well, we're having problems with biting again. (sigh) He has been doing it more and more of late...and we're having problems getting him to NOT do it. And to NOT DO IT on Josh.

We're working on it. We're also scouring books, websites, chatrooms, etc., trying to find out different ideas to help him understand that its wrong. He doesn't think it through. He just reacts. It's frustrating for all of us....Stann and I because we know he's an amazing little boy, Matt because he's tired of being in trouble and in time-outs...and Josh because he's become the biting target. It's awful. I am really looking forward getting past this stage!!!!

Aside from that....Matt's found a new love in Mickey Mouse Clubhouse....! Josh's favorite is Go, Diego, Go! And the two of them are quite a site to behold and fill our hearts with immense love every time we see them being kind, playing nicely together, taking care of each other, laughing, and just being themselves together.

I wonder if they know just how lucky they are to have each other? I sometimes think that they do....usually I'm thinking this as they're getting along with one another! :)

Also...we watched Lion King the other day. Matt was pretty confused about Mufasa....he asked me if he was sleeping and I told him "No" that he'd passed away. He got really thoughtful and then turned up to me and said "Did his Daddy go be with Jesus?" And, I laughed. I couldn't help it. It was too sweet.....it was either laugh or cry and I chose laughing - as my tears stress the boys out...happy or otherwise. :) But I thought it was so sweet. And it made me undeniably proud that he "got" it. :)

Just wanted to share a few of the stories that have happened this week. :) Will keep in touch!

Christmas Morning!

Merry Christmas!!

The boys were super spoiled this year!!

It was a very fun holiday!! They had fun "helping" Daddy with the 'some assembly required'....

New play-kitchen, pots & pans, trucks, cars, they each got a cabbage patch kid....

Matt's got a little boy that's fair and blonde with brown eyes, named Scotty...AND Josh has a little boy that's darker complexion but bald (preemie), named Linus. (LOL)

They both really liked unwrapping the gifts and BOTH of them had no problems doing so!

We spent Christmas Eve at home, watched "The Santa Clause 2" (it's Matty's favorite movie), then we watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (Daddy's favorite movie) and then read from Luke 2....then right before bedtime we donned our NEW red monkey PJ's given to them by their Auntie Sarah, and we read "Twas the Night before Christmas...." and then we put our little munchkin boys to bed....

Not that they actually STAYED in bed! LOL. That would've been too picturesque! No, Matt was so keyed up about Santa coming to his house that it was about 11:30pm before he was actually snoring away in his little blue racecar bed, dreaming of sugarplums (more like M&M's...) in his head...

But we had fun. It was pretty low-key. We were bombarded with snow though! :) The boys loved it too! :)

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and know that the boys are very, very loved. :) We so appreciate you and your family - especially around the holiday season. We look forward to hearing from you soon - and hope you and yours had a wonderful Christmas season!

God Bless You All!

Stann, Liz, Matt & Josh

Preparing for Christmas....

Just a quick note. We're just getting ready for Christmas....

Stockings Hung? Check.
PJ's ready? Check.
Letters sent to Santa? Check.
Camera's charged? Check!
Cookies are being made as I type....

We're ready. We're set. The kids are soooo excited for Santa to come to their house. It makes me wish I'd bought a Santa suit to have one of Stann's brothers dress up in.

We'll be traveling to see our families tomorrow, and we want you to know, that we'll be thinking of you - and posting pictures just as soon as we get back to our house...unless I actually remember and bring all the right cords to download it from my parents' computer while we visit.

The boys also got your package of the books and ornaments last night, forwarded by Marcia. Thank you. Really, truly, Thank you. I think we read "Go, Dog. Go!" twice to the boys last night. They loved it! :)

We will post more pictures just as soon as we can!!! :)

We wish you and your families a very warm, bright, wonderful Merry Christmas!!

Much Love,
Stann & Liz and the boys.....

December Updates thus far....

We made the very, very long trip to go see Zoo Lights! The boys LOVED it. They especially LOVED the train ride. (Josh kept saying "woo-woo" and pointing to things saying "dat!" when he liked the lights.....)

They did really, really great. They ran a lot of their energy out - and loved looking at all the lights and identifying which animals were there.

We're thinking about (next time we're going to Portland, as there's not much going on near us...!) hitting PIR, Peacock Lane and the Grotto. We'll see though.

Next up on our list: Visiting Santa.

The boys have made out their Christmas Wish List - and we have mailed letters to Santa.

Josh wants a "dolly" (I have to laugh, because Stann cringes at this...but it IS normal for little boys to want to hold and love babies I tell him...) and he wants "little people" - which we've already got for him.

Matt wants a wrench. A BIG wrench. Where did this tool obsession come from? Who fostered this in this child?! (LOL) He is his father's son....! Still not used to him running whenever he hears "Ask this old house" music come on. It's really a sight to behold!!! :)

Anyways....I'm hoping this won't be my last post for December. There's lots and lots more to update you on....I could brag on and on about the new things they learn daily....the small victories that are won - Matt learning to use his words to express his frustration, rather than his teeth...Joshua finally understanding he needs to keep his diaper and pants on during his nap. We celebrate the little things....!

We hope you all are having a wonderful, happy Holiday. We wish you the very best, send our love as well as the boys' and hope you have a very, Merry Christmas!

November Updates

Getting time at my computer is getting harder and harder to do!

Both boys are quite a handful....

Matt was super excited to be "Spider-Matt" for Halloween.

Josh was not excited at all with our hand-me-down Chewbacca outfit. He hated the hat.

We avoided the major meltdowns Halloween night, by just trick-or-treating around the block (half of it anyways) and going to 4 or 5 different friends in our neighborhood.

Josh was super excited about his 2nd birthday. We kept things pretty low-key this year. If you watch the video - you'll see he actually blew out his own candles. :) Smart kid! :)

This is how Josh and Matt like to be tickled. They've got the best laughs!

They've really started to come into their own....

*Matt is a virtual magpie. He repeats everything. Everything!

*Josh has an obsession with frogs. He really likes to hop like them and even say "ribbit".

*Both are really into "Little People" - as in the Fisher Price toys...not real people.

*Both love to run, play and WRESTLE. (Coming soon to a WWE ring near you....)

*Both LOVE to sing. :) YAY! I love to hear them sing. Josh has found his voice, and loves to sing the "Itsy Bitsy Spider".

*Josh has now mastered the words "No" and "mine".

*Matt is biting. :( We're working on that.

*Matt & Josh have started to "get" who Santa is...and Matt is looking forward to putting the lights on the house with Daddy this year. When asked by Marcia what Matt was going to ask Santa for this year, he promptly said "A wrench." Hmmm. We may have a slight obsession on our hands....