Play-time

So far today the boys have done almost nothing but fight.  But yesterday afternoon the boys played miraculously well together for like 30-45 mins.  No crying, fussing, screaming, yelling or hitting!  Just happy giggling and fun.  And now you're asking yourself, 'Is that even possible!? What could they have possibly been doing?'  Well they were doing this. . .

Is is wierd that I was basically doing the same thing at the same time?  Their pile is higher, but mine's yummier!  Mmmm french toast!



Happy New Year

A late Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!  This year we were able to go out to Colorado and visit my brother and his family, and see Douglas' sister and husband for Christmas.  It was so relaxing and nice to get away from everything!  No driving from place to place on Christmas day; the whole trip was great.  We didn't get to actually see anything until we'd been there for more than a day though.  We arrived after dark and the whole next day there was a ton of fog.  But after that we were able to get oriented and see how beautiful it all is.  Plus the fog left a ton of frost that was great for pictures.
Then after arriving home safe, we got to see my other brother before he went back home to Alabama.  It was really nice to see both brothers since they've lived out of town for years.  And of course we had our annual sledding day with my family, accompanied with the usual awesome crashes!

Douglas finished his fall semester before all the Christmas fun, and got 2 A's and a B+.  He has now started spring semester and is taking 2 classes and a  lab.  Plus he's taking an M-CAT prep through a private company.  He'll take the M-CAT at the end of his prep course in June or July and apply to a bunch of med-schools.  He has also started doing his 'research volunteer' work, plus still works a few days a week.  So we all miss him very much already, even though it all just started.  So with scheduling I'm basically a single mom for 4 days of the week.  But at least it's only one semester, and I know that as soon as I finally get used to the schedule we get to change it all again!  And assuming the boys don't get sick of me, we'll all make it through and presumably be sane.
The boys are still doing great!  Xander is such a shy little guy, even towards Japheth sometimes.  But he's cuter than ever, and has been learning to recognize some of the letters.  Of course it's still hit and miss as to whether he'll say the right name to the right letter, but he really loves doing it and always gets 'O' right.  Japheth loves going to pre-school more every day.  He has been able to learn and understand about different days of the week.  He learns about weather, animals, healthy food and exercise and everything else.  It's been so great for him to go and have a place to exercise his mind, make friends, and practice social skills. 

Giving Thanks & 18 Months

This Thanksgiving holiday was great!  We had Douglas' family over at our house for "dinner" and then went to my parents for dessert in the evening.  There was a lot of great food and fun.  Then on Saturday we had Thanksgiving with Douglas' dad, aunt and uncle and their family.  More good food and fun.  It was so nice to see everyone over the holiday weekend, and I'm extra grateful that Douglas got to have the whole week off!  We even got the bonus of him not having to go to school the Tuesday before because of weather.

Pumpkin hide and seek

Xander turned 18 months over the holiday weekend.  He is doing well.  He's 30 1/2 inches tall and 21 lbs 14 oz.  He says many things, and even learned a new word and the Doctor's visit- Frog.  He's definitely more shy than Japheth was, but it's just so cute you love it.  He wanted to "knock knock" on the door at the Dr.'s office, but wouldn't do it without me holding his hand.

The boys get along pretty well, though Japheth thinks that sharing means he gets whatever toy whenever he wants. Sometimes he has a hard time with why Xander gets to play with a toy when he wants it, because Xander should be sharing! It helps, sometimes, when I say it's Xander's turn. But their both so good and cute, I really couldn't ask for more. Except to remember better how little they are and understand, sometimes it's easy to forget and get frustrated. I'm so lucky to have such a cute and wonderful family! I am truly grateful for all three of my boys!

Oh yeah, Xander managed this!

Halloween

Halloween was really fun.  Pumpkin patch, food, parties, trick-or-treating, all the things that make the holiday great!  We all dressed up as Star Wars characters this year, for those who might not know- I'm Princess Leia, Douglas is Han Solo, Xander is an Ewok, and Japheth is (as he puts it) Obi Kanobi One.