Soaking It In

My dearest Grayson.

My 11 month and two day old son. How did we get here? How did we get to the place where you are able to snort on command, climb on top of laundry baskets, and suck down your bottle in 20 seconds flat?

You are a joy.
A ceaseless, boundless, little bundle of boy.

You are an explorer.
A daredevil.
You are not easily afraid or intimidated.

You play fierce and hard. You explore. You destroy. You investigate.

But at the end of it all. When exhaustion begins to find it's way in to your little body...you always need to find your Mommy.

And you come crawling up. Eyes locked on mine. You lay your head down on my chest, or my leg, or my cheek...and you suck your thumb.

You lay content - so long as I am rubbing your back and singing soft songs in your ear. I whisper to you that I never want you to outgrow this stage...but I know that you will.

And so I breathe you in. I make note of your smell. The feel of your tiny body curled up next to mine. The sweet sound of your thumb being sucked. The softness of your skin on the back of your neck.

I love you deeply. I love so many things about you. You are captivating. You are sensational.

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My tender hearted Ethan.

You have the softest, sweetest giggle.

The kisses you give me make my heart melt. You put your mouth right on my cheek and say "ahhhhh."



You are methodical.
You are sensitive.
You love to read books, to sing songs, to clap your hands and stomp your feet.

You love to laugh. You do it often.

You love to mess things up and hate when toys are picked up. You instantly go right to where they're stored and take them all back out again.

You love to grab your toes while you drink your bottle.

You love when we pretend that your feet stink.

You are so big and you show us often.

You are my frequent cuddler. You love to crawl up in my arms for a hug and then scurry back off again to the next thing. You are a mover. Always in action. Always trying to figure things out.

You are a dream. A blessing far beyond explanation. I love you deeply Ethan.

I find it impossible that in just a little under a month my itty bitty preemie twins will be turning 1.

I will be the mother of toddlers.

It makes my heart ache. It makes me so excited for the things to come, yet so lonesome for those little newborn boys in my arms.

I lay with you both often. I study you while you play and see how you interact. I make it a point to soak it all in because you're changing so fast. So fast.

Bath Time

There is nothing like bath time. When the boys hear the water start in the tub they go "running" and giggling all the way back to the bathroom. They stand, watching the tub fill up, yelling at the water the entire time.

They so badly wish they could climb in all by themselves. Notice Grayson's little leg lifting up in the picture.

Mamie Ursula

Mamie (taken just after a kissing session)

Mamie and I have been best friends for as long as I can remember.

She was given to me when I was just a little girl. She went with me everywhere. My brothers would lock her in the back of the car and laugh when her face melted, but good ole' Mamie always popped right back to life after a little cooling down.

I was recently going through old boxes of stuff that my parents had cleaned out, and I found her. I just had to introduce her to the boys.

They loved her from the start! I know they will just love the fact one day that I took pictures of them kissing a cabbage patch doll.

Ethan

Whenever I pull her out of the box I say only one word... "kiss?" They both get huge grins on their faces and they come zipping across the room to lay a big slobbery kiss all over her face.
She doesn't seem to mind!

They are such sweet tender hearted boys. They love to give kisses, and luckily not only to Mamie, but also to me!

Grayson planting one on

Ethan tipping her back

Busted!

A Special Gift

When the boys were infants we had one little basket that held a few rattles, rings, and books. It was all they needed. As they have grown, so have their amount of toys. We started to use laundry baskets to store everything in, but I was running out of places to stack all our laundry!

So - I asked Chris's father, Doug, if he would mind building a simple toy box for the boys.
And this is what he gave them.


It was a box that was made by Chris's great Granddad. It was made about 60 years ago~around 1950.

Doug took the box, repainted it, put the cute little airplane and train on the front, and painted the boys names on it.

The boys were thrilled with it. They climbed right up on it and started sucking and chewing it. I love being able to toss all their smaller toys in one big box at the end of every day and keep our living room looking a bit more welcoming and less cluttered.

This is such an awesome gift that will be treasured for years and years to come. I love the history of it, but also the personal time and attention that the boys loving Grandfather put in to it.

Perhaps some day our grandchildren will dig their toys out of it when they come to visit!

Thank you Pop!

WHOA Mama

This picture was taken almost a year ago. I can not believe the size of that belly! It is amazing how quickly you forget what it's like to have to sit 3 feet away from the table to eat your breakfast! It made me chuckle and I just had to share!

Nine Lives Out the Window

I was born in the prairie of Minnesota

I was abandoned by my mother when I was just a kitten

I've had fleas

I traveled half way across the country in the back of a Chevy Corsica

I have caught bats in my bare paws

Climbed up Christmas trees as tall as houses

Terrified visitors and plumbers for years

I was so tough.
Fearless.
Invincible.

And now...
The world as I knew it is gone. Invaders have taken my peace, my quiet, my security.

I am no longer safe.

I can't lay still for longer than 5 seconds without them coming after me - pulling my tail and grabbing at my face.

I try and walk away. I really do. But they are so persistent. They never tire of this game of chasing me from room to room.

Under tables, over chairs, on chairs...it doesn't matter...there is no escape from those little hands.

Nine lives?

Hmph.

I think one will be all I'll want.

thankyouverymuch.

Kodiak

Buds

You both

see each other across the room

and crawl and squeal to one another

as fast as your little legs and arms will take you

until you smother each other

in slobbery kisses

Hard Day's Night

A couple of days ago Chris went in to the nursery to pick up Ethan who had woken from a nap first. Chris whispered to me to come back and take a look at Grayson asleep in his crib. When I entered the nursery door I saw Grayson with his pants down around his ankles, and him passed out on his belly sound asleep. His arms were sprawled out on both sides of him and he was just snoring away!

It's hard work being a little boy sometimes!

Play Dates

Now that the boys are older they really seem to enjoy getting out of the house once in awhile. We are fortunate that their Pop and MawMaw (Chris's parents) live so close by and the boys are able to go over there to play once in awhile without me. They eat over there, play and crawl all around, and get to go look at all the trains on display in Pop's train shop! Pop even lets them put their hands on the controls! It gives me a chance to have a couple of hours here at home to clean, vacumn, or just blast music as loud as I possibly can! It is really a huge help and so awesome for Grayson and Ethan!

Courage and Corn

So I just had to dress the boys up this year. I found this lion costume for Ethan for only three dollars. I thought it would be so cute to have Grayson dress up like a scarecrow and do the whole Wizard of Oz thing. (I didn't think he'd appreciate being Dorothy). I thought that a straw hat, bibs, and a flannel shirt would do the trick....but he turned out looking much more like a farmer instead. Oh well...he didn't seem to mind! And a pretty cute little farmer he was too! When I put this costume on Ethan I started laughing out loud. He was SO cute! He had a little tail in the back that would wag when he would crawl. He didn't even mind it at all!

Perty Punkins

Once in awhile that handsome little man that I married comes up with cute and clever ideas. ;)

He thought it would be fun this year if we would give the boys a sharpie and let them draw their own design on their pumpkins. We would then carve it out, and viola! Pumpkin masterpieces!

The boys weren't so sure what to do with the marker. They really didn't like the gentle guiding that we provided to try and move the marker tip toward the pumpkin. They wanted it so badly in their mouths instead. After a few minutes of artistic performance their pumpkins were ready to be cut.

Grayson showing mama how it's done

Ethan the artist

Chris carved and scooped out all the goop while the boys were napping. We put the guts in a bowl and gave the boys a chance to stick their hands in it and check it out. They were both wide eyed wondering what in the world that awesome feeling stuff was!

Grayson

Ethan

Below: The boys and their finished pumpkins.

And of course...Halloween socks! Courtesy of MawMaw and Pop. :)

One Week Just Isn't Long Enough

Grandpa and Grandma Berres drove out from Minnesota and spent an entire week with us. It was such a great time. They were in shock over how much the boys had changed and mentioned numerous times that this was the most drastic change they had seen in the boys yet. They were amazed how they have gone from infants to toddlers, all since our trip up there in August.

We stayed pretty busy while they were here, which wasn't too tough considering that there were two little boys with boundless energy keeping us hopping!

We played outside. (G)

We saw potato chips being made. (E left, G right)

We visited a new local winery(the poor boys only had crackers!)



We built forts.(E)

We ate and drank a lot. (E left, G right)

The boys enjoyed their new table and chairs, an early Christmas present from Grandpa and Grandma. (G)

We took rides up and down the hallway. (E left, G right)

We had such an amazing time, but next time it needs to be at least two weeks...cuz one week just isn't long enough. Thanks for coming Mom and Dad!