Our Latest Adventure

I took the boys to Wheeler Farm yesterday.  It was not bad temperature wise and we had a lot of fun.  The animals were very glad to see us, especially the geese.  They were hungry and LOUD and aggressive. I didn't get any pics because we had a lot of cold weather stuff and I didn't want to add my camera to all the crap.

On our way home from the farm, I noticed I needed gas.  We stopped at the gas station and that's when I realized I had left my wallet at home.  I grabbed my phone to call Brian and my cell phone battery was dead.  I was stranded with 0 miles on the range, no wallet, no phone, and two boys with me.  I gathered all the change I could find in the car and filled up with $2.50 worth of gas, but it wasn't even enough to put 1 mile on the range.  I went to the nearest grocery store and had to call Brian to come rescue us.  Luckily I remembered his phone number!  It was quite an adventure.

Archer loves to chomp on apples in the mesh feeder.

And Austen is really into photo bombing...

This little guy is seriously the best thing ever!  I love his little faces and his sounds.  He has started crawling right over to me and then pushing on me really hard with his head.  It's hilarious!  He's also started pulling himself up to standing, but he can't always remember how to do it and he stands with his feet turned in and his toes curled under.  He'll get it eventually, and I'm in no hurry!

Austen made this sign by himself...he just asked me how to spell lemonade.  He really wants to set up a stand and can't quite get why it won't work in the middle of the winter.

If you've been around Archer, you know he loves to scream really loud.  That's what he's doing in this picture and I love it because it captures it perfectly....he even has the hand tensed for extra noise making power.

Have I mentioned they love this toy? I can't keep Austen out of it!

Even though he's clearly too big.

He's obsessed with the curio cabinet and really wants to get at everything in there.

I just love this pic....there are a million funny captions that could go with it I'm sure.

The Best Christmas Morning EVER!

We woke up to quite the surprise on Christmas morning.  Sam the elf had left a trail of peppermints from the bedroom out to the family room where Santa had left some loot along with some snowy footprints.  Austen was so excited to follow that peppermint trail! 

We said "look Austen, Santa left snowy foot prints". To which he replied "I think that's just flour".  So much for that....

Sam left a really sweet note that Austen loved because he was really sad that Sam had to go back to the North Pole until next Christmas.

The boys both ended up in our bed by the time it was morning.

We changed them into their Christmas jammies and made them pose for a picture. 

The car was Archer's big gift from Santa and it is hands down the BEST baby toy I've ever bought.....both the boys love it!  Austen got Jagger the T rex from santa and he was so excited about it.

How cute is this little stinker?

I LOVE this candid moment that I caught.....it was totally unpromted!  Austen is seriously the sweetest and best big brother ever!

Even this guy was excited!

The boys opening up their big present which was a helicopter ride for the three of us! 

Austen got a karaoke machine which has since provided us with hours of laughter.....that is one funny kid! 

Switch n go dino battle.

I have to say that Christmas is fun with one kid, but it is exponentially more fun with two.  Archer's first Christmas was definitely one to remember.

Get Ready For Some December Re cap

I swear it feels like I'm just doing catch up on the blog lately.  I took way too much time off in December, but we did a lot of fun stuff that I want to get posted.

I promised Austen we would make some gluten free sugar cookies, so we did.  The most surprising part is that they actually turned out!  I'm getting better at baking....who would have thought?

Or maybe it's just cause this guy did most the work.

He likes lots of sprinkles!

He thought they were delicious!

This is what Sam did on his last night here.  The night before Christmas Eve.  It was a whole G.I. Joe vs Cobra battle.  Austen thought it was the coolest thing ever of course.

I sure LOVE this guy so much!

9 Months

Archer is 9 months old!  He is just the happiest and he's so easy going that he makes every day special.  He has this unusual ability to make everyone around him happy and I am so grateful that I get to be his Mother!

He is currently obsessed with paper and shoes.....if he sees either, he crawls straight to them and puts them in his mouth.  He loves books, his favorite for now is The Little Blue Truck.  He still doesn't love eating food, but he tolerates squash and rice cereal.  He loves to scream.....loud.  He LOVES his Daddy, this is borderline an obsession.  He gives the best kisses, but only to Mommy which I love.  He thinks his brother is the most fascinating person in existence and will watch him do just about anything.  He loves the bath.

He weighs 24lbs and is in size 5 diapers and 18-24 months in clothes.

And lastly.....these pictures are getting nearly impossible to take.....he won't hold still and he won't leave the cute sticker alone.

He can pull himself up to kneeling, but not standing.  He will stand like this if you help him, which I did because that's one of the few times he isn't moving.

I love these little feet!

Showing off his cool trick.

This is pretty much what he did to the backdrop the whole time.....he thought it was really fun!

This is his "locked on a target" face

And this cute little face is the one he gets when he's on his way to get into something.

And this is how proud he is when he gets it!

The Joy Of Being A Mom To Boys

Remember when we took the boys on a hike in the summer? I posted about Austen collecting all those acorns and sticking them in his backpack?  Well, I never wrote about this, but those acorns sat in his backpack for a few weeks and then one day when I was picking Austen up from school, his teacher said I should check the front pocket of his backpack. In the car Austen was telling me there were caterpillars in there.  I was scared!  When we got home, I took the backpack outside and bravely opened the front pocket to find that little white grubs had hatched out of the acorns and were writhing around all over in there.  I was beyond grossed out and had to empty them into the dirt outside.  It was awful.....I'll never be able to eat rice again without thinking of those gross little things.

Well, the other night we had another one of those "only a mom to boys" moments.  Brian found a giant black widow at work and did what any normal human being would do.  He caught it and brought it home to show Austen.  I was seriously dying!  They were playing with this stupid thing....in my house!  I was so freaked out, but Austen thought it was the neatest thing ever and even got sad when Brian took it to be released....far far away! 

Another Milestone

Archer crawls!  A real baby crawl on all fours!  It's super cute!

I just love this little guy so much and it's really fun to see him grow and watch his little personality develop.  It's also a little sad because it just happens too fast!

A Visit To See Santa

Austen LOVED it!  He was so star struck and had a list of things he wanted a mile long that he rattled off to Santa.  Archer on the other hand was not a fan.  He was freaked out by the beard especially.

He was really over it by the time they got to the second picture.  Poor guy!