REALLY Big Boy Beds!

When the boys were two and we moved them from their cribs in to toddler beds we always referred to them as their “big boy beds.”  When they turned four though this past December we could physically see that it was time to move them in to something even bigger!

With the two of them sharing a bedroom for the foreseeable future we wanted to make the most of the space in their room to accommodate two growing boys.  Chris found some building plans online to build a loft bed and after a few trips to the hardware store he got to work cutting, grooving, screwing, and nailing them together. 

We then set up a painting station downstairs in the playroom so we wouldn’t have to paint out in the cold garage!  It took a while to get every nook and cranny covered with primer and paint, but I think the end result was worth it. The boys were VERY thrilled with their new sleeping arrangements.

 

Saying goodbye to their toddler beds.

Final touch up!

Ethan in his cozy new digs

 

Grayson John

 

Up so high!

He can touch the ceiling!

 

I was a nervous wreck of a mother their first night this high off the ground.  Chris added one more safety railing on the side just to give me a little extra sense of security. He also bolted the beds in to the wall, so they aren’t going anywhere!  The boys do great with them.  They scramble up and down them like little monkeys and for the first week they actually told us when it was time for them to go to bed so they could get back in them!  (That excitement has worn off!)

I must also add that for their birthday the boys also got a light bulb put in to their fixture along with all their clothes put up in their closet! This was a huge step for them as they before had only two little beds in a dark little room and that was it!   Life with twins! 

We are hopeful these beds will last them for many years to come.  We still have one of their little toddler beds for sale if anybody is interested in purchasing it!

Four Year Old Mice

Last night Adelyn and I were sitting upstairs Skyping with Aunt Mary.  We were having a great conversation and Adelyn was enjoying singing song after song to her precious Auntie.  Then Ethan comes upstairs rubbing his tummy and says, “My tummy is so warm!”  I was a bit curious as to why he would make such a statement, but didn’t think much of it. 

Then, a few minutes later I realized that it was eerily quiet in the house.  I knew without a shadow of a doubt that my boys were in to something.   Mother’s intuition I guess!

I carried the computer (along with Aunt Mary) downstairs and this is what I found:

Just before going on the computer with Mary I had baked some apple cinnamon muffins to have for breakfast this morning. I knew that today was going to be a busy day and so I thought I’d give us a little head start by cooking these up the night before.  Well I guess the boys couldn’t resist this muffins sitting right out before them and proceeded to eat the tops off of all but two muffins out of twelve!

Our goodbye to Aunt Mary had to be pretty abrupt as this mother, while amused at her sons antics, had to dole out some consequences for this little stunt.

One of those consequences being that Adelyn and I will enjoy what is left of these muffins this morning for breakfast while the boys are served something else.  As Aunt Mary pointed out though – they have already gotten their fill!

Never a dull moment!

A Big Girl Kind of Day

I know one day Adelyn is going to love the fact that I decided to blog about her and her pottying habits.  I can’t help myself though! Yesterday was a big day in the life of my baby girl!

We have been working on and off with Adelyn when it comes to her potty training.  I started a couple months ago, but then found with the business of the holidays that we had kind of quit trying.  I truly feel like she is at an age where she can understand what is going on and is ready for this jump.  She’s very excited to be “big like brudders” and go to the bathroom like they do!

I’ve basically just jumped in full throttle and put her strictly in underwear (or nothing!) when we’ve been home the past few days.  The first day it was just accident after accident after accident.  Poor little sweetheart was so upset every time.  We continued to talk it through though and she seemed to understand what she needed to do.

Well yesterday I was up in the kitchen giving Grayson a haircut when I heard this little girl yell, “I did it Mommy!”  She had her little hands in the air raised over her head in victory.  I dropped the scissors on the counter and ran down to see.  Sure enough, she had!  Grayson, Ethan, and myself started to do the potty dance and whoop and holler and cheer for her! She was so so proud of herself!

Taken a few days ago.  Just hanging out!

This was her yesterday after her successful attempt!  She was so proud of herself and loved telling her Daddy all about it last night.

We’re so proud of you Adelyn! My baby is growing up!

Family Shoot

This past fall we had our family pictures taken by the best friend of my second cousin. You got that?  She lives here in our city and was running an incredible offer for a 45 minute mini – session along with the rights to 15 of your favorite images.  I thought it was a perfect time to get some family pictures taken. We hadn’t had really anything done since Adelyn was born, so we were long overdue.  I know most of you reading this have already seen a lot of these on Facebook or our Christmas card, but I wanted to include them on here too, along with some of my favorites.  When deciding what we were going to wear for pictures I did two things.  First, I looked at the main living area of our home where I knew I would want to enlarge and frame a lot of these pictures.  I am definitely a fan of this color scheme and find that it runs through much of our home (as much as is decorated right now that is!).  Second, I went through our closets to find clothes that would coordinate in those colors.  I was surprised to find many pieces that we already owned. I did buy Adelyn’s skirt and tights at Target.  It certainly helped to keep the cost down!

Grayson

 

 

 

Ethan

And one of my all time favorites…

Highs and Lows

Every night when we tuck Ethan and Grayson in to bed they tell us what their high and their low was from the day.  Tonight after I asked Grayson his low he thought for a moment and then he said, “I didn’t have any highs or any lows.  I just had a really great day.”  Then he went on to pray for his baked oatmeal in the morning.  He prayed that the oatmeal Mommy made him (he had a small taste before bed) would still taste yummy in the morning and not be cold yet.

Christmas Company

Pop and MawMaw were able to come from Virginia and stay with us from December 7 until December 16th.  We had such a great time and stayed very busy during their week here!

We spent some time celebrating Christmas together. 

New jammies!

Adelyn was given a Tag junior for Christmas.  She loves it and wants to carry her little Scout with her everywhere she goes! (And leave it on and run down the batteries every couple days or so).

The boys were given the older version of the Tag system.  It is such a neat concept! I really enjoy the books along with the boys.  It is a nice quiet activity they can take part in while I am making dinner or dealing with Adelyn or whatever.  They can read the book to your child, along with educational activities and games on every page.

This one is just kind of thrown in there. But seriously folks, don’t you just want to squeeze her?

The kids and I spent one of their last days at the Mall of America together.  It’s great to stay cozy warm, but yet be able to get out some energy riding some rides and walking the massive mega mall!  We had a great day, complete with lunch at a tropical oasis and cookies and smoothies to wrap it all up!

Thank you MawMaw and Pop for taking the time and spending the money to come all this way to be with us.  We love you both very much!

Holly Ball 2012

Our friends and backyard neighbors Brian and Julie own and operate a valet company.  They offer valet services for the hospital here in our town, and so they also take part in valeting for an annual hospice fundraiser called Holly Ball.  For the past two years now they have asked us to go as guests, as they receive enough tickets for a table full. 

It is such a fun opportunity to get dressed up and enjoy a night of great food, conversation, music, and dancing! 

This year I decided to wear the bridesmaid dress that I wore for my cousin Ann’s wedding this past August.  Might as well get another night out of it!  We arrived at around 4:30 and sat down to an elegant dinner.

We were serenaded throughout dinner by an a cappella men’s group.  I loved it!

Also during dinner they showed this powerful video. 

After the video was shown there were touch pads on our tables. We were all given an auction bidding number before the evening began. We were able to enter our number on to the touch pad along with the number of recordable books we wanted to purchase, and right before us on a large screen was a running total of the number of books that were being purchased at $30 each. It was amazing to see the generosity of the people in that room just come pouring out. They raised far beyond what they were hoping to that evening, and in fact the total evening brought in $502,000! It is great to be a part of something that isn’t just a fun night out, but also a fundraiser for such a truly worthy cause!

Far left is Amanda who works as a fellow manager with Chris.  Julie is in the middle.  The amazing story here is that Amanda and Julie have been close friends for over seven years.  I believe that God played a pretty large role in us purchasing a home that is directly behind Brian and Julie’s.  Of all the homes in this city!  We have since grown in friendship with both couples and have a fun time together.  All of us have young children so that creates a bond of understanding right off the bat!

I love this man (and his tie!)

As the dinner was winding to a close the entire wall on one side of the room was pushed aside and this was revealed…

Every set of hanging umbrellas indicated where the food stations were.  We had just finished a full meal, but yet in this room there was a dessert station, vegetable station, shrimp station, fruit station, meat carving station, oriental station, and mashed potato station (with every type of mashed potato concoction possible!).  It is not a night to count calories, that is for sure!

They had two bands playing.  One is a well known local band called the Fabulous Armadillos. The other band was from Minneapolis and was called Sell Out Stereo.  The two bands just took turns playing a set all evening, so the music never stopped!

We got home around midnight and crashed in to bed.  Thanks again Brian and Julie for a great time!