Merry Christmas!

We had a great time today! Caleb got a new train for Christmas and Tyler got a fun ride-on inchworm. Those were the first things we saw when we got up this morning. Mommy and daddy even let us open our other presents before eating breakfast, we both had a lot of fun unwrapping. Then we ate our breakfast and went back to playing with our new toys.

Christmas Eve

This morning we got up and made our cinnamon rolls first thing. Caleb really enjoyed helping mommy with the dough and getting to make a big mess! Tyler kind of wandered back and forth between "helping" and playing with the blanket. After our naps we got ready to go eat dinner and go to the Christmas Eve service at church.

Tyler's haircut

Finally! Mommy was waiting on daddy to come home to give Tyler his first haircut. It seemed do-able when daddy left, but the past couple of months his hair had gotten out of control- at least in the back! So, here's Tyler during his first haircut- he did a great job sitting nice and still for daddy.

Before:


After:

Yay!

Caleb 2 years, 10 months and 11 days old
Tyler 1 year, 4 months and 11 days old




So the daily (or at least attempted daily) blog updates are done for now. Mommy says she'll keep it up, so check back, but probably not every day!

Waiting patiently

Somewhat...Everything is ready and if all goes as planned, daddy should be home tomorrow evening. Mommy hasn't really told us, but we've pretty much guessed that is what is going on! We think she knows we'll be so excited and Caleb won't be able to stop asking, so it probably is better to wait!

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Beautiful day!

It was so pretty outside today! Caleb had school and got to play outside- one of his favorite things. Tyler and mommy did a little more Christmas shopping and then went back to pick up Caleb. Today Tyler thought it would be fun to sneak into Caleb's class and hang out for a while. Then we were home for some really long naps today- must have been the nice weather. Mommy had thought about taking us to the park today, but since we slept so long, that really didn't work out. So we played in the yard instead. Caleb is getting really good at his tricycle and Tyler had a blast just running around all over the place!

180/0

Just another day

Nothing really exciting today. Just a pretty normal day overall! We just kind of hung out and took it easy this morning- mommy was folding laundry so we got to watch a movie. Then just the regular naps and afternoon of keeping ourselves busy!

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Yummy!

Mommy bought us these fun suckers today! We both had a really good day. Caleb went off to school and mommy and Tyler met up with the guy who fixed our heat. So, it was 80 today (crazy for December) and we have heat back! Not that we've needed it- it hasn't even come on today at all! Anyway, back to the yummy suckers!





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Tyler's voice

Is gone! Poor kiddo has lost his voice. It's pitiful and funny at the same time. He'll be trying to yell along with Caleb but not nearly enough sound comes out! He's working on some new teeth also- drooling and chewing on everything. Caleb had a pretty early morning this morning, so he and mommy got to snuggle for a while before Tyler got up. After dinner tonight, we watched Frosty the Snowman (mommy had saved it for us) and we both really liked it. We're sure we'll see it again before Christmas is over!

177/3

Taking it easy

This morning we did a little Christmas shopping and played on the big hot dog before attempting story time. Tyler didn't sleep very well last night and Caleb didn't really seem interested in the story, so we left there early. We had lunch and Caleb took a great nap. Tyler still wasn't interested in sleep, so he had a rougher afternoon. Yesterday we got a package in the mail and in the box was a new Finding Nemo DVD from Nana and Grandpa. We already wore out our copy of Nemo (both discs), so this was a treat! We snuggled on the couch with mommy and watched it for a while. Then it was time for dinner and baths and an early bedtime for Tyler. Caleb got to stay up a little longer. Hopefully we'll have a peaceful night at our house tonight!

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New jammies

Mommy got us some new pjs today. We didn't really have any super warm jammies (because we don't normally sleep without the heat on), so we went out and found some today. They are pretty warm, but just in case, mommy put another layer under them. We both really like our dinosaur pjs and are looking forward to a good night's sleep!

175/5

Brr!

Tyler says that really well- "brr!" We waited around this morning for someone to come and check the heat. Turns out the problem actually needs to have a part ordered in order to fix it (of course). It should be fixed by Monday or Tuesday- when it is supposed to be around 60 or so, and not 40 like today! So we stayed bundled up all day and went out to do a few things this evening. We also borrowed a space heater and mommy put it in our room for a little while to get it nice and warm before we went to bed. The cold didn't seem to bother us at all- we both slept really well and mommy said we were pretty toasty when we woke up too! Here's what we wore most of the day (we don't really need the hoods, but we really like to wear them sometimes!)



174/6

Relaxing day

At least for the most part. Caleb went on to preschool this morning and mommy and Tyler went and hung out with Hillary and Jack for the morning. That must have been tiring for both of us because we took really long naps today! When we finally got up, mommy wanted to run a few errands. Unfortunately the store mommy wanted to go into had lost power, so we weren't able to do that errand. We did a couple other things and then had dinner and headed home. That's when everything got a little more exciting. Mommy noticed it was a little colder in the house than normal and when she checked the thermostat, the heat didn't seem to be working. So she bundled us up after our bath and made sure that we had warm blankets to sleep with.

171/7

Shopping

We helped mommy do some Christmas shopping today. Both of us were really good the whole time we were gone, which really helped mommy out a lot. Since we were so good, she let us have a treat before going back home. Then after our naps, we went out and did some more shopping! Mommy really got a lot done, and was so happy that we were so cooperative today. She even made us mac and cheese for dinner- one of our favorites!

172/8

Spaghetti dinner

It was so windy this afternoon and evening that we stayed home and just hung around here. Tonight for dinner we had spaghetti and we had a great time eating it. Tyler really loved it- he also loved making a huge mess! They both went straight into the tub after dinner!





171/9

Bye!

We had to let Aunt Sarah and Aunt Katie go back home today. Caleb was a little confused- he wanted them to ride in his silver car, but mommy explained that they had to go back to Raleigh. He seemed to understand that, so he was okay then. We then headed off to church. Mommy's class was having a Christmas lunch, so after church we stayed around for a little while to have pizza and cake- yummy! That meant that we got home later than normal, so we went straight on to our naps. Caleb was so tired that mommy had to wake him up to meet up with everyone for dinner at Moe's tonight!

170/10

So busy!

We were lucky Aunt Sarah and Aunt Katie were here today! Mommy had a bunch of stuff she wanted to get done, so our Aunts took us over to storytime and to play for a little while. That really tired us out- so much that Tyler fell asleep on the way home. He did wake up and we had lunch and then took our naps- we slept for a long time again today. Mommy and Aunt Sarah and Aunt Katie worked more while we were sleeping, so when we finally woke up, we got to get out of the house again. We did a few things and then had dinner and came back to get our baths and off to bed. It was a really fun (and productive for mommy) day!

169/11

Sing row row row your duck

We were busy today cleaning up the yard for daddy to come home. We worked really hard and were tired out so we all took really long naps today, even mommy. After naps Aunt Sarah and Aunt Katie were here so we played with them and then went to eat dinner. In the car Caleb was asking Aunt Sarah to sing row row row your boat, then he was being silly and decided it should be row row row your duck. We had to make a quick stop at Target to get lightbulbs, then we came home and it was time for a quick bath and bedtime. Another busy day tomorrow!

168/12

A little help please

So since nothing super exciting happened today, we've got a set of pictures from the zoo to share. Mommy and Jody thought this was pretty funny. Lilly wanted a boost to be able to see the tiger better, so Caleb decided to help her out.

Getting started




Almost there


Success!


167/13

Busy, busy

We had another busy day today- we were pretty tired from our zoo trip yesterday, so we did sleep in a little more than normal. Caleb had school and mommy had an appointment, so Tyler went to play with Jack for a little bit. This evening we did a few errands and got dinner. Then we snuggled with mommy for a little bit and watched Wheel of Fortune before heading off to bed.

166/14

Another warm day

Today it was pretty nice again, so mommy took us to the zoo! There weren't many people there at all, so we felt like we had the whole place to ourselves! We had a great time running around and seeing all of the animals. Another big favorite was running around the trees and collecting leaves.







165/15

And home again

After our incredibly busy weekend, we are back at home again! Caleb had a great day at school- he told his teachers that he had a really fun time over the holiday weekend. Tyler and mommy picked up Leo and then had lunch and caught up with Hillary, Jack, Jody, and Hailey. Then came the really long naps this afternoon- Tyler slept for 3 hours and Caleb slept a little over 2 hours. Then we had to run out and get some milk and bread and a few other things.

164/16

More visiting and more driving

We had a visit with lots more family today. We spent a little time with our great grandma Shanas and lots more great aunts and uncles. Then after that we started back home. We took Aunt Katie back home and then continued on our way. We got home just in time to go to sleep. It was such a busy weekend that we were pretty tired out.

163/17

More family fun

Today was a lot of fun. We had some more family join us for the day. Our great grandma was here along with our great uncle John and great uncle David and his three boys. We got to play a lot and Aunt Katie let us help her open her birthday presents! We were celebrating her birthday a little early- which we really enjoyed because that meant that we got to have birthday cake!



162/18

More fun

Today we went over to visit with grandma and grandpa and uncle Steve. We had a really great time. Caleb got to play outside for a while, throwing rocks and just exploring. In the evening, we went over to visit with our great-grandma and Ed and have pizza for dinner. We were both pretty tired out after that long day!

161/19

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a pretty fun day today. Tyler slept in until 10 in the morning and both of us were in a really good mood all day. We spent today with mommy, grandpa, nana, Aunt Sarah, Aunt Katie, great Aunt Marie and Adrian. We had some turkey and the rest of the normal Thanksgiving foods, but we weren't all that impressed- we both preferred the rolls over everything else! Then Tyler helped grandpa pick out his christmas present.



160/20

Driving and baking

This morning Tyler and mommy were invited to Caleb's classroom for lunch before the Thanksgiving break. Tyler had a lot of fun exploring Caleb's classroom and we had a yummy lunch before heading out.



We stopped and picked up Aunt Katie on our way to Grandpa and Nana's house, so she got to ride with us for the last part of the trip. After having dinner and Tyler went to sleep, Caleb got to stay up for a few extra minutes and help mommy make the cinnamon rolls. He'd already had his bath- perhaps we should have waited!





159/21

Packing

Mommy was really busy today. We were pretty good while she got things all packed up for our trip. We'll leave tomorrow after Caleb gets out of school, so hopefully it'll be an easy drive.

158/22

Singing and splashing

Mommy got Caleb on tape! And also a little bit of us acting silly. We had a pretty busy day, but it was a good day too! Enjoy the video!



157/23

Another Sunday

Not much went on today. We went to church and then came back home. We had Moe's for dinner (of course) and then went to bed pretty early. We have a busy day tomorrow and we also have to start getting ready to go out of town for Thanksgiving. Caleb is getting really good at singing his songs- mommy wants to get some more on tape, we might try that tomorrow. If so, we'll have a new video up!

156/24

Cuddly boy

After a busy day of running around we got stuck in some traffic on the way home- not that much fun. So when we got home, it was time for bed. Tyler wasn't feeling so good, he ended up waking up after about an hour of sleep, so he cuddled with mommy for a little while. He ended up going back to his bed, but not before mommy got a picture!



155/25

Checking on the new baby

Mommy had a doctor appointment today, so we got to play. We got to play outside and on the computer and all sorts of fun stuff. Little baby seems to be growing fine! We were able to grab some lunch before coming home and taking naps. Then we went shopping for Aunt Katie's birthday present and got to wear our warm jackets for the first time.





154/26

Rain, rain

It rained today- and got a lot cooler! We spent the morning inside, mommy did the laundry and we got to watch Nemo- we haven't done that in a while. We both slept pretty good- must have been the rain! We did a few errands in the evening and just headed back home for the night.

153/27

Another beautiful day

Caleb had a great day at preschool today! They had a feast and he brought home some fun artwork. Tyler and mommy spent the morning at the doctor's office getting an update for Tyler's medicines. So they didn't have as much fun as Caleb did. But, we all had a great time after naps- we took advantage of the nice day and went back to the park! Playing hard like that has a price though- we definitely needed a bath tonight! Especially with Caleb's chocolate milk mustache!



152/28

Nice weather

We had some warmer weather today, and since we didn't feel like taking long naps, we went to the park. Both of us had fun swinging, going down the slides, and just running around in general. Caleb can now climb pretty good and had fun showing off that skill. Tyler was just into everything. After our bath, we watched a little show before heading off to bed.

151/29

Bananas

Yummy!



Caleb is all done already



We had a fun day today- preschool for Caleb and time with mommy for Tyler. In school today, Caleb and his class talked about the letter G and giraffes. They also glued gumdrops onto paper. We also did a few other things after naps and then had dinner before coming home.

150/30

Another day

We felt a little better today, so we played with Aunt Katie a little bit before she had to leave. And then it was naptime. Caleb didn't sleep very long- and he should have- he got up super early this morning. After Tyler woke up we ran a few errands before going to Moe's for dinner. We were home and in bed pretty early tonight- it was a long day for us all!

149/31

Not feeling so good

The change of weather hasn't been much fun for us! Either that or we've got some new teeth coming in. Nothing too major- just coughing and runny noses. So we took it easy today and then snuggled up to watch a couple of shows before bedtime.



148/32

A good day

Lots of smiles today- both of us were in really good moods. We also got a lot done today- we went to Target and a little more shopping. Mommy and Aunt Katie cleaned out the red car so that it is ready for daddy when he gets home. Now they just have to do something about all those pine needles on it. We had a good dinner and then were pretty tired out, so we went on to bed!

147/33

A long day

We both had mommy up during the night, so it was a long day for everyone. We behaved pretty well though, considering. We were pretty patient in the traffic since the drawbridge was going up when we were trying to get over to the other side. Mommy had to get some lab work done, and we did a great job waiting on her. Because we were so good, mommy took us to play on the big hot dog for a while. That made us nice and tired so we took really good naps. After we had dinner and baths, we got a nice surprise- Aunt Katie got here!

146/34

Jumpin Jelly Beans

We tried out a new jumping place tonight and had a great time! It is a pretty big place with lots of room to run. Tyler loved the slides, and Caleb did really good on the obstacle course. There were jumpers with slides, animals, and a really big one that we could just jump in. Caleb liked the one with the animals a lot.



Tyler loved going down the really big slide



He kept wanting to go back up again and again



145/35

Silly monkeys

Sometimes we can be really silly. Mommy was trying to take a good picture of us, and we just wanted to act crazy. These are cute anyway though!





144/36

Not so fun

Caleb was off school today. Since we had the morning free, mommy decided that we should all go have our flu shots. The wait wasn't that bad, but neither of us were thrilled with the actual shot. Caleb went after mommy and he did pretty good- he was fine once he got his band-aid. Tyler just kind of looked at the lady like "why did you do that?" We got some lunch and then spent the afternoon at home- we got to watch Nemo, which we hadn't done in a while, so that was lots of fun!

143/37

An extra hour?

Not really! Caleb decided to get up around 5:30 this morning and Tyler was a couple of hours behind him. So, no extra hour of sleep for mommy today! Oh well, at least we all took a nap this afternoon. Then we headed down to Moe's to have dinner- we were both pretty hungry and didn't have much trouble eating our food! Then mommy let us run around outside for a little bit- we had some energy to burn off!

142/38

Playing

Today was a lot of fun! We went to story time this morning and then got to play for a while. We stuck around to have lunch and then headed home for some rest- we played hard this morning. This evening we went and had dinner and then got stuck in some traffic on the way back, but we sang some songs in the car and made it home just in time for bed.

141/39

A very busy, fun day!

We did so much today! We started out this morning and went over to play on the big hot dog and then have lunch. Then we took some naps- it was pretty quiet over here for a while! We went down to the Jumping Monkey and had a great time! That is where the pictures for today come from.

Going down slides







Jumping





All piled into the car (and toasty warm despite the wind)



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